The Lord's Return 



The Lord's Return 



Seen In History and In Scripture 
As Pre-Millennial and Imminent 



By 

JESSE FOREST SILVER 



With an Introduction by 
BISHOP WILSON T. HOGUE, Ph. D. 

" I will come again." — Jesus 




New York Chicago Toronto 
Fleming EL Revell Company 

London and Edinburgh 



Copyright, 19 14, by 
FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY 



New York: 158 Fifth Avenue 
Chicago: 125 North Wabash Ave. 
Toronto: 25 Richmond Street, W. 
London: 21 Paternoster Square 
Edinburgh: ioo Princes Street 




MAR 25 1914 



©CU371048 



Introduction 



By Bishop Wilson T. Hogue y Ph. D. 

That our world is approaching a momentous crisis 
is believed and asserted by thoughtful men in every 
walk and department of life. Intelligent and serious 
minds cannot escape this conviction. There may be 
differences of opinion as to how near the crisis may 
be ; also as to just how it will be ushered in, and as 
to many of its final consequences ; but all are agreed 
that events of unprecedented importance are impend- 
ing, and that as an ultimate result of this approach- 
ing crisis the entire framework of the existing social 
order is likely to be revolutionized. 

Poets have written of that 

" One far off divine event 
Towards which, the whole creation moves,'* 

and of a coming era among the nations 

" When the war drums throb no longer, 
And the battle flags are furled, 
In the parliament of man, 
The federation of the world." 

The prophets of God in all ages have foreseen and 
foretold the dawn of a golden age, the ultimate estab- 
lishment of the kingdom of God in visible glory upon 
the earth, the universal triumph of righteousness in our 
world, and, as a result of the moral and spiritual 
transformation of society, of an era in which "the 
creature itself also shall be delivered from the bond- 

5 



6 



INTKODUCTION 



age of corruption into the glorious liberty of the 
children of God." 

The conviction is also growing among thinking men 
that the approach of that golden age which has been 
the dream of poets and the vision of devout seers and 
prophets throughout the ages is not such a "far off 
divine event ' ' some would like to have it ; but that 
it is ever imminent, likely to occur at any time, and 
may occur before the present generation of men and 
women pass from the theatre of the world's events. 

According to the Christian Scriptures the dawning 
of the age so long foretold by prophecy, and so loDg 
and ardently hoped for by devout men in all the 
world, awaits the return of Jesus Christ to our earth 
to consummate redemption's purpose and to gather 
in the final harvest of His redeeming work. Hence 
the Christians of the Apostolic Age and of the early 
centuries of Christian history made much of the doc- 
trine of the Lord's return ; and the hope of His 
epiphany was to them a constant motive to all so- 
briety, diligence, watchfulness, zeal, patience, heroism, 
as also to all purity of life and holiness of character ; 
and was likewise a source of deepest consolation in 
times of darkness and sorrow, and of abounding peace 
and triumphant joy under all the adverse conditions 
of their militant career. 

Kegarding His Second Advent Jesus says, speaking 
from His Father's throne, "Behold, I come quickly. " 
St. James assures us that "The coming of the Lord 
draweth nigh." The writer of the Epistle to the He- 
brews says, ' ' Yet a little while, and He that shall come 
will come, and will not tarry;" also, "Unto them 
that look for Him shall He appear the second time, 



INTRODUCTION 



7 



without sin, unto salvation. " Throughout the New 
Testament Scriptures we are exhorted to "look for" 
His coming j to "watch" for it; to "wait" for it; 
to be " hasting " to it ; to "pray " for it ; to "prepare 
the way" for it ; to "rejoice" in expectation of it. 

But how can any one obey any of these directions 
who does not believe the Lord can personally return 
until the world has been converted and a thousand 
years of universal righteousness shall have intervened f 
Yet such is the doctrine held by many concerning the 
return of Jesus Christ to this world. Those who hold 
this view have been characterized as Post-millenarian, 
because of their belief that the Lord's personal return 
will not take place until after the Millennium ; while 
those who believe His coming will precede the Mil- 
lennium are called Pre-millenarian. 

The author of this book has undertaken to furnish 
a concise treatise on " The Lord's Eeturn," as pre- 
millennial, giving us the result of great research on 
the subject under the following heads: I. "The 
Lord's Eeturn Seen in History;" II. "The Lord's 
Eeturn Seen in Scripture." Under the first division 
the history of the Pre-millennial doctrine is traced from 
the earliest period of Christian history down to the 
present day. He has shown by a large collection of 
writings, gleaned from the early Fathers and their 
contemporaries, that this doctrine was held by prac- 
tically the whole Church during the first three cen- 
turies. He has also as clearly shown that the decline 
of the doctrine was due to the adoption of Origen's 
allegorizing method of interpreting the Scriptures ; to 
the unholy union of Church and State under Con- 
stantine ; and to the gradual rise of the Papacy, by 



8 



INTRODUCTION 



which it was finally excluded entirely from the creed 
and regarded with the utmost contempt. He has 
likewise shown how the doctrine survived during the 
Dark Ages which followed, being held by the spir- 
itual remnants of the Lord's people in various coun- 
tries, by whom spiritual religion was preserved from 
utter decay, and "the faith once delivered to the 
saints" was transmitted to later generations. This 
part of the work is a marvellous encyclopedia of in- 
formation, and exhibits the results of long, patient 
and painstaking research. 

Under the second division the author has kept ad- 
mirably to his purpose to present in concise form the 
teaching of the Scriptures on the Pre-millennial return 
of Christ ; and his selection and interpretation of 
Scripture proofs appears to me both sane and sensi- 
ble. He has buttressed his position with a great ar- 
ray 'of eminent ancient and modern authorities, evi- 
dencing the same extensive research as in the histor- 
ical part of the work. He has wisely avoided enter- 
ing into detail regarding the millennial period, making 
no attempt to mark out a program for the Lord to 
work when He shall come. 

The book is so arranged in paragraphs and sub- 
paragraphs, with a copious analytical Table of Con- 
tents and a complete Index, as to make it convenient 
and valuable as a book of reference on the general 
subject of the Lord's return. I regard it as a valuable 
contribution to the literature of eschatology, and cor- 
dially commend its contents to the perusal and care- 
ful consideration of all seriously minded persons. 

W. T. H. 

Michigan City, Indiana. 



Preface 



Jesus ascended to heaven. His disciples saw Him 
go. " While they beheld, He was taken up, and a 
cloud received Him out of their sight' ' (Acts i. 9). 

Jesus will return. To lone disciples, gazing up- 
ward, angels speak these precious words : ' ' This 
same Jesus, which is taken from you into heaven, 
shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go 
into heaven" (Acts i. 11). In the Scriptures it is 
written, " I will return" (Acts xv. 16). Jesus said 
to His disciples, "I will come again" (John xiv. 3). 

We know how a fond and affectionate maiden looks 
seaward to watch for a ship's return. We have seen 
how grateful nations have welcomed their heroes 
home. " Even so, come, Lord Jesus ' ' (Eev. xxii. 20). 
The people of God are deeply interested in the com- 
ing back to earth of Him who sweat great drops of 
blood under the olive trees of old Gethsemane and 
stained the stones of Calvary with blood from His 
broken heart that He might save their souls from 
the bitter pangs of eternal death. They "love His 
appearing" (2 Tim. iv. 8). 

Nearly a hundred years ago when the venerable 
Dr. Adam Clarke wrote his notes on the Prophecy 
of Daniel he observed that the words of that princely 
seer were "closed up and sealed till the time of the 
end" (Dan. xii. 9) which "will not arrive before the 
twentieth century, " and according to his calculation the 
Mohammedan world will fade away and the Millen- 

9 



10 



PEEFACE 



nium become a grand reality within the first half of 
the present century. 

While the day and hour of the Lord's return is not 
revealed to inquiring man the leading missionaries 
and evangelists of the world believe the time is draw- 
ing near. A proud and stately ship speeds onward 
in the darkness and a gay and thoughtless multitude 
revels in peace and safety while sudden destruction 
lies ahead. God help us to sound a faithful warning 
and push to the rescue of perishing souls. "The 
time is short" (1 Cor. vii. 29). 

The tenets of Eussellism are scattered everywhere. 
Satanic Spiritualism and social infidelity are awful 
undercurrents into which millions are being drawn. 
Timely attention is being directed towards the present 
aspect of Eoman Catholicism. The secularization of 
Christianity, the encroachment of Mohammedanism, 
the clashing of arms on the fields of ancient history, 
the rapid transformation of steel into colossal engines 
of war, the general running to and fro, the restive 
fermentation of the world, together with the dis- 
covery of glaring errors in the established reckonings 
of Old Testament chronology, have awakened a lively 
interest in the study of eschatology and moved a 
thinking world to watch the signs of the times and 
talk of the Lord's return. 

I trust the Holy Spirit has prompted me in pre- 
paring this contribution to literature on a subject 
dear to all who love our Lord's appearing. For 
several years the conviction to prepare the following 
work has been impressed upon my mind. It has 
seemed a duty from which I have been unable to turn 
away. I have searched with diligence the writings 



PEEFACE 



11 



of good and learned men from the time of the Apos- 
tolic Fathers down to the ablest writers of the present 
day. Numerous works have been purchased for con- 
stant reference and many old volumes now out of 
print have been cheerfully loaned by valued friends. 

Dr. Edward J. Knox, of Butler, Pennsylvania, de- 
serves special mention for his kindness in granting 
free access to his extensive private library and direct- 
ing me to desired sources of information. Bishop 
Hurst, when writing his ' 1 History of the Christian 
Church, " corresponded with Br. Knox for informa- 
tion from this library which in the judgment of 
Bishop Hamilton is one of the choicest collections 
owned by any Methodist preacher in the United 
States. Besides various literary works of great value 
it contains over one hundred bound volumes of 
Wesley's Magazine in consecutive order from the time 
of its appearance in the eighteenth century. Valu- 
able matter not generally accessible has thus been 
obtained. Much information has been gathered from 
the public libraries in Pittsburgh. 

Special care has been taken to secure accuracy in 
citations. To condense much into little space has 
been my constant aim. Foot-notes remove from the 
body of the text all tedious insertions and also direct 
the critical mind to sources of information. 

By the grace of God this work is now completed. 
Patient research, earnest prayer, and gracious blessing 
from the Holy Spirit have enabled me to accomplish 
that which I now offer to thoughtful and serious 
readers. If there be any virtue in the service ren- 
dered, to my heavenly Father may highest praise be 
given. J. F. S. 



Abbreviations and Definitions 



Apoc Apocalypse or Book of Revelation. 

art article. 

Chiliast (Kil'-I-ast) . one who believes Christ will return and reign 
visibly during the Millennium. 

Ch'n Christian. 

Ch. Church. 

ch chapter. 

com commentary. 

Cyclo Cyclopedia. 

Ency Encyclopedia. 

ed edition. 

Millen Millennium. 

N. T New Testament. 

O. T Old Testament. 

pre pre-millennial. 

post post-millennial. 

sup supplement. 

Rome Romish ; the ruling power of the Roman Cath- 
olic Church. 

X, 9 volume X., page 9. (Illustrating citations.) 

1703-1791 born A. d. 1703; died A. D. 1791. Or, a 

period of time. 



12 



Abridged Directory of Works 
Cited 



Abbott . . . Lyman Abbott, " Dictionary of Religious Knowledge," 

New York, 1874. 
" Americano Ency.," 1905. 
" American Cycle," 1883. 

" Antinomianism Revised," Daniel Steele, Boston, 1899. 
Barnes, Albert, " Notes on Revelation," N. Y., 1863. 
" Bibliotheca Sacra," XLV, 1888; art. by Dr. S. H. Kellogg, To- 
ronto. 

Blackburn ..." Church History," Cincinnati, 1879. 

Blackstone . . . (W. E. B.), « Jesus is Coming," Chicago, 1908. 

Brown . . . David Brown, of Glasgow, " Second Advent : Christ's 
Second Advent ; Will It Be Pre-millennial ? " N. Y., 
1856. A peerless post-millennial work. 

"Cambridge Bible for Colleges," University Press, England, 1898; 
forty volumes by twenty-two eminent exegetes. 

" Catholic Ency.," New York, 191 1. 

" Century Dictionary," N. Y., 191 1. 

" Chambers Ency.," Phila., 191 1 ; also ed. of 1884, when specified. 
Clarke, Adam, " Com. on the Bible," N. Y., 1833, B. Waugh and 
T. Mason. 

« Corner Stones of Faith," N. Y., 1898, by C. H. Small, Amer. Hist. 
Ass'n. 

El. . . . Elliott, Dr. E. B., "Horse Apocalypticae," London, 185 1. 
Four volumes of encyclopedic erudition. 

" Ency. Brit." ..." Encyclopedia Brittannica," Cambridge, Eng., 
191 1, eleventh ed. Art. " Millen." in 9th 
and nth ed. by Adolph Harnock, German 
theologian. 

" Ency. Dictionary," Phila., 1898; art. " Millen.," Ill, 3134, 3135. 
" Fathers, Ante-Nicene," New York, 1903. 

13 



14 ABEIDGED DIEECTOEY OF WOEKS CITED 



" Fathers, Nicene and Post-Nicene," Ibid. Other editions are speci- 
fied if cited. 

Field, Benjamin, « Handbook of Ch'n Theology," New York, 1887. 
Fisher, G. P. (Yale), "History of Ch'n Doct.," N. Y., 1896. 
Fletcher, John, "Works," New York, 1849. 
Gibbon, Edward, " Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire." 
Gieseler, J. K. L., " Compendium of Eccl. History," Edinburgh, 1854. 
Greswell, Edward, " Expositions of the Parables and Other Parts of 

the Gospels," 1834; five volumes. 
Hastings, " Dictionary of the Bible," 1908. 

Hodge, Charles, " Systematic Theology," N. Y., 1872; three volumes. 
Hurst, Bishop John F., " Hist, of the Ch'n Ch.," N. Y., 1897. 
" International Critical Commentary," N. Y. Prepared by the high- 
est exegetical scholarship. 
Jamieson, Faussett & Brown, commentary, Hartford. 
" John Wesley and Pre-millennialism," Nathaniel West, Cincinnati, 

from Brooklyn ed. of 1894. 
Kurtz . . . Prof. Kurtz, " Church History," N. Y., 1889 ; three vol- 
umes ; translated by John McPherson from the Ger- 
man standard text-book. 
M. . . . Symbol for McClintock & Strong's " Biblical, Theological 
and Ecclesiastical Cycle," N. Y., 1871; revised to 1887; 
twelve volumes. 

Merrill, Bishop S. M., " New Testament Idea of Hell," Cincin., 

1878; "Second Coming of Christ," Cincinnati, 1879. 
Mosheim, J. L., "Ecclesiastical History," Baltimore, 1842. 
Mauro, Philip, " Number of Man," London, 19 10; " Man's Day," 

Ibid. 

" Museum of Antiquity," Phila., 1880. 

Myers, P. V. M., « General History," Boston, 1893. 

Parker Society edition of the " Writings of the Early Reformers," 
Cambridge, England. 

Pickett, L. L., " Blessed Hope of His Glorious Appearing," Louis- 
ville, 1901 ; also, "The Renewed Earth." 

"Plain Truths for Plain People," H. L. Hastings, Boston, 1894; 
" Number 44," April I, 1895, of Anti-Infidel Library. 

Pope, W. B., " Compendium of Christian Theology," N. Y., 1881 ; 
three volumes. 

" Popular and Critical Bible Ency.," Chicago, 1904. 

Raymond, Miner, " Systematic Theology," Cincinnati, 1877. 

Ropes, Prof. J. H., " The Apostolic Age," N. Y., 1907. 



ABEIDGED DIEECTOEY OF WOEKS CITED 15 



S-H . . . Schaff-Herzog, " Religious Cyclopedia," New York and 
London, 1910; art. " Millen." by C. A. Beckwith, Pro- 
fessor of Systematic Theology, University of Chicago. 
Schaff-Herzog, old edition; art. " Millen." by Dr. Semisch, German 
theologian, who wrote art. " Chiliasmus " in the old " Real-Ency- 
klopcedie." 

Schaff, Philip, " Church History," New York, 1905. 

Seiss . . . J. A. Seiss, " Last Times," Louisville, 1878. 

Seiss, J. A., " Lectures on the Apocalypse," N. Y., 1901 ; " Voices 

from Babylon," Ibid. 
Sims, A., " Behold the Bridegroom Cometh," Kingston, Ontario 
1900; " Deepening Shadows and Coming Glories," Toronto, 1905* 
Steele . . . See " Antinomianism Revived." 
Stephens, Abel, " History of Methodism," New York, 1858. 
T. . . . Taylor, Daniel T., « Voice." " The Reign of Christ on 
Earth ; or, The Voice of the Church in all Ages Con- 
cerning the Coming and Reign of the Redeemer," 
Boston, 1864. Several hundred preachers and writers 
are quoted, with detailed citations to their works and to 
other sources of information. 
Trench, Archbp. R. C, " Notes on the Parables," 1841 ; on the 

" Miracles," 1846; " Christ the Desire of all Nations," 1850. 
Tyerman, Luke, " Life of John Wesley," New York, 1872 ; three 
volumes. 

" UEP Ency." ..." United Editors' Perpetual Encyclopedia," 
Chicago, 191 1 ; art. « Millen." in Vol. XVIII. 
Pages not numbered. 

" Universal Cyclo.," N. Y., 1900; formerly Johnson's. 

Wesley, John, " Sermons," third American edition, N. Y. In 
" Notes " and " Works" quoted, editions are specified. 

West . . . See « John Wesley and Pre." 

Young, Robert, "Analytical Concordance," N. Y., 1910. In the 
Greek, Young's spelling and simple word forms are adopted to 
facilitate reference. For endings, see Testament and Grammars. 



Contents 



part I 

The Lord's Return Seen In History 

SECTION I.— THE RETURN OF CHRIST 
AND THE MILLENNIUM 

I. Phases of the Subject Commanding Our At- 

tention . . . . i .27 

Importance — Prominence — Influence — Our duty 
— Miiller, Lincoln, Talmage and Collett. 

II. The Millennium and Its Relation to the 

Lord's Return . . . . . .32 

Term defined — Nature — Duration — Belief in — Pre 
or Post — Statements — Points argued — Testimony — 
Heresies of Russellism. 



SECTION II.— THE PRE-MILLENNIAL FAITH 
OF THE EARLY CHURCH 

III. The Creed of the Apostles was Pre-Mil- 

lennial ....... 49 

Testimony — Writing and preaching in the city of 
Rome — The Didache — Old Roman creed — The 
Roman Catholic Church corrupts the primitive creed. 

IV. What Historians Say of the Faith of the 

Early Church ...... 54 

Schaff, Gibbon and various others quoted. 

V. An Examination of the Writings of the Early 

Fathers ....... 56 

1. Apostolic Fathers — Wesley on — Westcott on — 
Barnabas quoted — Clement of Rome — Hernias— 
Ignatius — Polycarp — Papias — 6,000 years — 
Theophilus of Antioch — Present status of chro- 
nology. 

17 



18 



CONTENTS 



2. Ante-Nicene Fathers — Justin Martyr — Ire- 
naeus — Tertullian — Cyprian — Commodianus 
— Lactantius — Numerous others. 

VI. The Montanists ..... 70 

Chiliasm — Character — Dispersion. 

VII. NOVATIAN AND HlS PURITAN CHURCHES . 73 

Novatian — Puritan — Cathari. 

VIII. The Council of Nice was Pre-Millennial 74 

Authorities cited — Whitby concedes it. 

IX. The Salutary Effect of the Primitive 

Faith ....... 76 

Authorities cited. 

SECTION III.— THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH 
INVENTS THE POST-MILLENNIAL SYSTEM 
AND BURIES THE FAITH OF THE PRIM- 
ITIVE CHURCH 

X. The Troublesome Book of Revelation 

Rejected 78 

The Alogi — Caius of Rome — Origen — Dionys- 
ius of Alexandria — The Council of Laodicea. 

XI. The Rise and Reign of Constantine . . 81 

Unites Church and State — Character — Influence 
— Wesley. 

XII. The Catholic Church Corrupts the 

Nicene Creed 83 

Forgery — Misrepresentation. 

XIII. Character and Influence of Jerome . . 84 

Hates Chiliasm — Character — Corrupt policies. 

XIV. Augustine ...... 86 

Early life — Exegetical weakness — Pre-Destina- 
rianism — Millennial and church theories — Spir- 
itual relapse — Bitterly opposes the Donatists — 
Advocates persecution. 

SECTION IV.— THROUGH THE DARK AGES TO 
THE DAWN OF THE REFORMATION 

XV. Rome's Hatred of the Doctrine . . 91 

Will not tolerate Chiliasm — Review of Record 
— Citations. 



CONTENTS 



19 



XVI. The Awful Wickedness of the Dark 

Ages ....... 92 

Rome's promotion of the social evil. 

XVII. The Waldenses .... 94 

Primitive origin — Antiquity disputed by Rome 
— Name — St. Paul — Testimonies — Dialect — 
Veracity — Records destroyed — Noble lesson 
— Pre-Millennial faith. 

XVIII. The Paulicians 103 

Name — Origin — Belief — Character. 

XIX. The Cathari ...... 105 

XX. Rome's Development of Post-Millennialism 107 

Rites — Emblems — Declarations — Plans — 1000 
A. d. — Enormous wealth amassed — Imperialism 
— Reigning saints — Judging — Ignorance fos- 
tered — Papal blessings. 

XXI. Onward to the Reformation . . 113 

Apocalyptic movements — St. Bernard — Joachim 
— Waldo — Francis of Assisi — Occam— Wyclif 
— Oldcastle — Savonarola. 

XXII. The Reformation and the Martyrs . 121 

Tyndale — Bradford — Ridley — Latimer — Cran- 
mer — Albigenses — Anabaptists and Moravians 
— Huguenots and St. Bartholomew's Day — The 
Inquisition — Resume by Talmage. 



SECTION V.— THE REVIVAL OF THE PRIMITIVE 
FAITH LIES AT THE FOUNDATION OF 
PROTESTANTISM, BRINGING THE REFOR- 
MATION AND FLOURISHING UNTIL THE 
PRESENT DAY 

XXIII. Doctrinal and Denominational Develop- 
ment . . . . . . .129 

Augsburg Confession — Bohemian Brethren — 
Mennonites — Reformers — Puritans — Independ- 
ents — Westminster Assembly — Mystics : 
Boehme, Philadelphians, Wm. Law, Poiret, 
Madam Guyon— Pietists — Friends or Quakers — 



20 



CONTENTS 



Episcopalians — Plymouth Brethren — Presby- 
terians — Catholic Apostolic Church — Church 
of God — Adventists — Christian Alliance. 



XXIV. Millennial Caricatures 



144 



148 



Anabaptist apostates — Eva Buttlar — Sweden- 
borg — Communistic sects — Millerites — Re- 
marks. 

XXV. John Wesley and the Early Methodists 

WERE PRE-MlLLENNIAL 

Exception noted — Wesley's Notes — Sermons 
— Samuel, the ancestor — Charles — Moravian 
influence — Sutcliffe, Fletcher and Coke — Par- 
ent Church — Books and writings recommended 
— An Article — Tyerman, Southey, Nast, Need- 
ham, Stroeter and Smith bear witness — Un- 
contradicted — Wesley's epitaph — Churchey. 

XXVI. Reformers and Church Leaders . .162 

Melancthon — Bullinger — Brousson — Zinzen- 
dorf — Jewel — Becom — Knox — Whitby — 
Chalmers — Milicz — Cromwell. 

XXVII. The Doctrine in Poetry, Song and 

Sacred Oratory . . . .165 
Poets: Gerhardt, Hahn, Milton, Pope, Top- 
lady, the Bonars, C. Wesley, Heber, Duffield 
— Preachers: Savonarola, Massillon, White- 
field, Rob't Hall, Spurgeon, Cumming, 
Lorenzo Dow, Henshaw, Tyng, Moody, Tal- 
mage, etc. 

XXVIII. Eminently Spiritual People . . .172 

Joris — Arndt — Piscator — Spener — Francke 
— Stilling — Rutherford — Alleine — Bunyan — 
Baxter — Mead — Phoebe Palmer. 

XXIX. The World of Learning . . 178 

Macaulay quoted — In early New England : 
the Mathers, with Spalding and others. 

Writers : Oetinger — Oosterzee — Gill — Gil- 
fillan — David Nelson — Harriet Beecher Stowe. 

Expositors : Cocceius — Daubuz — Bengel — 
Lacunza — Stier — Lange — Usher — Matthew 
Henry — Lowth — Bp. Newton — Keith — Gres- 
well — Trench — Alford — Tregelles — Sllicott 
— Moses Stuart — Seiss. 



CONTENTS 



21 



Educators : Alsted — Godet — Jurieu — 
Thiersch — Nitzsch — Rothe — Ebrard — Come- 
nius — Poiret — Joseph Mede — T wiss — Bur- 
roughs — Palmer — Goodwin — Charnock — 
Wells — Napier — Sir Isaac Newton — Whiston 
— Faraday — Newcome — Horsely — Candlish 
— Chase — Mcllvaine — Nathan Lord — Mark 
Hopkins. 

Higher Criticism — Pre advocates agree on 
essentials — Post advocates differ. 

XXX. The Missionary World . . . 194 

Zeal — Wolfe — Gaussen — Gutzlaff— Bettle- 
heim — Delitzsch — Heber — McCheyne — Bick- 
ersteth— Duff— Miiller— J. Hudson Taylor— 
H. Grattan Guinness — Arthington — John G. 
Paton — Judson — Christian Alliance — Inspir- 
ation. 



PART II 

The Lord's Return Seen In the Scriptures 

SECTION VI.— INTRODUCTION TO THE SCRIP- 
TURES 

XXXI. The Holy Bible and Its Interpretation 203 

Objections to literal interpretation considered 
— Warnings against allegorizing — Dangers en- 
countered — Safety in literal interpretation — 
Looking towards the Lord's return — Proph- 
ecies quoted. 

SECTION VII.— THE RESURRECTION OF THE 
RIGHTEOUS IN RELATION TO THE 
LORD'S RETURN 

XXXII. The First Resurrection, Mentioned in 

Rev. xx. 5, 6, is Corporeal and Pre- 

MlLLENNlAL 21 8 

Date of the Apocalypse —Seizure and binding 
of Satan — Language compared with verses 
11-13 — Concessions by Merrill and Steele — 
Spiritualizing — Martyr scenes — Souls — " Souls 
of them." 



22 



CONTENTS 



XXXIII. That the Resurrection of the Saints is 
Pre-Millennial is Seen in the General 
Teaching of the Scriptures . . 226 
The Greek — Some taken ; others left — A bet- 
ter resurrection — Out from among the dead — 
Phraseology — Dan. xii. 2 — Jerusalem saints — 
Order ; bands — Paradise — Just and Unjust — 
Hour — Last day — Last trump — Illustrations. 



SECTION VIII.— THE WHOLE TENOR OF BIBLE 
TEACHING IS PRE-MILLENNIAL 

XXXIV. The Kingdom of God 



XXXV. 



XXXVI. 



XXXVII. 



Illustration of varied aspects — Definition — 
Church — The transfiguration — Not of this 
world — Sabbatic rest. 

The Trend of the Age 

Evangelization of the world — Crime — The 
power of the Gospel — This age — The coming 
age. 



The Jew 

Preservation- 
Bible. 



■ Down-trodden — Restoration- 



Observations on Various Subjects . 

Leaven — Mustard seed — Daniel's stone — Res- 
titution — Animals — The tares — Drag-net — 
Long life — Daniel and Revelation agree — 
Antichrist — Reign of saints — Command' to 
watch for the Lord's return — Imminence. 



237 



240 



244 



247 



SECTION IX.— PRE-MILLENNIAL JUDGMENT 
SCENES 

XXXVIII. The Judgment of the Saints . . 260 

Caught up — The Magnet — No condemnation 
— Vindication — Reward — Assignment — Judi- 
cial prerogatives — Witnesses. 

XXXIX. The Judgment of Those Who are Left 

Behind ...... 265 

The great tribulation — The mighty conflict — 
Separation of all nations — Matt. xxv. 31-46 is 



CONTENTS 



23 



pre-millennial — Authorities cited — Olivet discourse 
— Angels — Adam Clarke — Joel's prophecy — Fea- 
tures distinguishing from final judgment — " All na- 
tions" — " Sheep and goats " — " My brethren " — 
Kingdom inherited from the world's foundation — 
Consuming fire — " Quick and dead " — " Every 
eye " — Beholding Christ — Zechariah's prophecy. 

XL. Down in Hades ..... 280 
The abode of the wicked — Terms employed — 
Sheol not the abode of saints — Analysis — Hades 
not the grave — Saints not in hades — Mythology — 
Gates — Usage — Paradise not a province of Hades 
— Christ and hades — Purgatory. 

SECTION X.— THE POST-MILLENNIAL JUDG- 
MENT SCENE 

XLI. The Resurrection of the Wicked and the 

Final Judgment ..... 290 

Small and great — The sea — Order of events — 

" Death and hell " giving up its dead — " Death " 

and " hell " identical in meaning — The book of life 

— The vast assembly— The righteous ; the wicked 

— Survey of the scene — Parting to meet at the 

Judgment. 

Textual Index 299 

General Index ... *oc 



PART I 

The Lord's Return Seen in History 



PART I 



THE LORD'S RETURN SEEN 
IN HISTORY 



SECTION I.— THE KETUBN OF CHRIST AND 
THE MILLENNIUM 

I.— PHASES OF THE SUBJECT COMMANDING 
OUR ATTENTION 

All things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of 
Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning 
me (Luke xxiv. 44). 

i. Importance of the Subject. The Prophecies 
abound with definite promises pointing forward to 
the glory of the Latter Day. The Jews were so occu- 
pied with the study of prophecies which speak of the 
triumph and the glory of our Lord's return that they 
seem entirely to have overlooked those which told of 
His coming in poverty and humiliation to suffer and 
die for a lost world. From their angle of vision they 
saw only the power and the glory that shall accom- 
pany the return of the Lord to reign from the rivers 
to the ends of the earth. 

Christ came and was rejected as the Messiah of the 
Jews. The literal fulfillment of the letter of every 
prophecy relating to His first advent was truly aston- 
ishing. Let us learn a lesson from the folly of the Jews 
in their failure to accept as literally true all that the 

27 



28 THE LORD'S EETUEN SEEN IN HISTOEY 



prophets spoke concerning the corning of Christ to 
suffer and die. Shall we repeat the error for which 
the Jews have suffered long % Shall we refuse to be- 
lieve all that the prophets have written concerning 
the second coming of Christ? The coming of the 
Lord draweth nigh. We enter now upon the study 
of a subject of vast importance to the entire human 
family. 

(a) The sainted Fletcher lamented the tendency to 
veil this important phase of Scripture teaching from 
the vision of the saints : 

"As inattention and unbelief have cast a veil over this 
glorious part of the Gospel, permit me, sir, to remove a 
corner of the veil, and to show how the prophets have all 
spoken of the glorious days of the Messiah and of the days 
of vengeance, which shall precede them." 1 

(&) Sir Isaac Newton, the 1 1 prince of philosophers, " 
writes : 

" There is scarcely a prophecy in the Old Testament 
concerning Christ that does not in some way or other re- 
late to His second coming." 2 

(c) Mrs. Phoebe Palmer, whom John A. Wood 
styles " the Hester Ann Eodgers of American Method- 
ism," and who "did more to spread this experience 
[of holiness] than any other woman in this country," 3 
looked for the speedy return of Christ. Over forty 
years ago this pious woman wrote from Philadelphia 
to a minister of the Gospel, saying : 

"I am glad you are with those who love the appearing 
of our Lord and Saviour. We are also of those who have 
long believed that we are living in the latter part of the 
last days. You ask, * What are our thoughts in relation to 

1 " Works," III, 519. 2 " Prophecies on Daniel," p. 132. 

3 " Perfect Love," 1880, p. 159. 



THE SUBJECT OF THE LORD'S RETURN 29 



the duty of a minister who believes in the speedy coming 
of Jesus ? ' We would say, Proclaim it fearlessly. O, it 
is passing strange that Christ's ministers of the present day 
so seldom speak of His coming again when so much is said 
of it in the Scriptures." 1 

Dr. David Brown, of Glasgow, the strongest 
post-millennial writer in the English speaking world, 
makes this candid acknowledgment : 

" 'Behold, I come quickly, and My reward is with Me,' 
is a sound dear to all who love His name. To put any- 
thing in the place of it is not good, nor will it succeed, for 
those who preach Him bringing His reward with Him will 
prevail, as indeed they ought. Nor is it in regard to the 
personal appearing of the Saviour that the pre-millennialist 
will and ought to prevail against all who keep it out of 
sight. There is a range of truth connected with it which 
necessarily sinks out of its Scriptural position and influence 
whenever the coming of Christ is put out of its due 
place." 2 

2. The Prominence Given to this Subject in the 
Sacred Scriptures. No subject in the Scriptures is 
mentioned nearly so often as that of the Lord's return. 

" It is declared by Bickersteth and Brooks, who have 
counted them, and is repeated publicly by Moody and 
Marvin, who with others have confirmed the fact, that each 
and every verse in twenty-five makes direct or indirect 
reference to that last grand, mighty presence of Christ on 
earth. Every page rings out, « Behold, He cometh ! ' " 3 

3. The Influence of this Doctrine on the Chris- 
tian Heart and Mind. The truth contained in those 
Scriptures which relate to the Lord's return is an 
expression of the blessed hope of the people of God, 

*■« Guide to Holiness," 187 1, LX, 185. 
a " Second Advent," p. 488. 

8 D. T. Taylor, London Quarterly Journal of Prophecy. 



30 THE LOED'S RETURN SEEN IX HISTOKY 



an incentive to souls to earnestly seek the highest 
attainments in spiritual life, and a strong inspiration 
to go after the lost in every land. 

The personal return of the Lord is the great hope of the 
Church (Job xix. 25-27; Isa. xxv. 9; Col. ii. 4; Titus 
ii. 13; 1 Pet. i. 13; 2 Tim. iv. 8); the strong incentive 
to faithful testimony (Luke ix. 26) ; a motive to mortifica- 
tion of the flesh (Col. hi. 4, 5) \ to moderation before all 
men (Phil. iv. 5) ; to soberness, righteousness and godli- 
ness (Titus ii. 12, 13); to patience (Jas. v. 7, 8) ; toper- 
severance (Heb. x. 37); to holy conversation (2 Pet. hi. 
10-13) ; to heavenly-mindedness (Phil. iii. 20) ; and to 
the firmer holding of our experience in the grace of God 
(Rev. ii. 25 ; iii. n). 

Thoughtful consideration of the nearness of His return 
begets a spirit of watchfulness (Rev. xvi. 15); is conducive 
to brotherly love and personal holiness (1 Thess. iii. 12, 13) ; 
inspires greater zeal for the salvation of souls (1 Cor. iv. 
3-5; 1 Thess. ii. 19, 20; 2 Tim. iv. 1) ; restrains us from 
judging others and supports us when adversely judged 
(1 Cor. iv. 3-5) ; sustains us in the hour of suffering 
(2 Tim. ii. 12) and comforts our hearts when bereft by the 
flight of sainted loved ones (1 Thess. iv. 18). 

4. The Duty of the Children of God in View of 
the Certainty of the Lord's Return. It becomes our 
duty as Christians to love the appeari ng of Christ (Eom. 

viii. 23 ; 2 Cor. v. 2 ; 2 Tim. iv. 8 ; Titus ii. 13) ; to 
pray for His return (Matt. vi. 10 ; Eev. xxii. 20) ; 
to watch for His coming again (Matt. xxiv. 43-51 ; 
xxv. 13 ; Mark xiii. 33-37 : Luke xii. 35-37 ; xxi. 
34-36 : 1 Thess. v. 4-6 : Eev. xvi. 15) ; to live in con- 
stant expectation (Phil. iii. 20 ; Titus ii. 13 ; Heb. 

ix. 28; 2 Pet. iii. 12, 14; Eev. i. 7) ; wait hi patience 
(1 Thess. i. 10 ; 2 Thess. iii. 5 ; 1 Cor. i. 7 ; Isa. xxv. 
9) ; and be ready vrhen He comes (Matt. xxiv. 44 ; 
Mark xiii. 33, 36 ; Luke xii. 35, 40 ; xxi. 34 ; Eom. ~ 



THE SUBJECT OF THE LOBD'S EETUEN 31 



xiii. 11-14 ; 1 Thess. v. 6 ; Bev. xvi. 15). Thus are 
we led into that state of holiness without which no 
man shall see the Lord (Col. iii. 3-5 ; Titus ii. 11-13 ; 
Heb. xii. 14 ; 1 John iii. 3). 

5. George Muller, mighty in faith and unceasing 
in prayer, was stirred to action by the thought of the 
Lord's return. He says : 

" When it pleased God in July, 1829, to reveal to my 
heart the truth of the personal return of the Lord Jesus, 
. . . the effect it produced upon me was this : from 
my inmost soul I was stirred up to a feeling of compassion 
for sinners, and for the slumbering world around me lying 
in the wicked one, and considered : Ought I not to do 
what I can for the Lord Jesus while He tarries, and to 
rouse a slumbering church? " 1 

6. Abraham Lincoln, after emancipating Ameri- 
can slaves and watching the war clouds float away, 
uttered these words : 

" A time is coming which alarms and unnerves me — 
when all the wealth will be in the hands of a few. I have 
more anxiety for my country now than during the war." 2 

Lincoln soon lay in his tomb. What is the present situ- 
ation? Writing in 1910 Philip Mauro remarks: " It is 
stated without denial that one per cent, of the population 
of the United States, — the richest and most progressive 
country in the world, — owns more wealth than the other 
ninety-nine per cent, of the population." 3 

7. Dr. T. DeWitt Talmage, the distinguished 
traveller, writer, and famous pulpit orator whose lips 
lie silent in the grave, said with ringing voice : 

" There may be many years of hard work yet before the 
consummation, but the signs are to me so encouraging that 
I would not be unbelieving if I saw the wing of the apoca- 

1 Sims, « Shadows," p. 223. 2 Sims, " Bridegroom," p. 105. 
3 " Number of Man," p. 190. 



32 THE LORD'S RETURN SEEN IN HISTORY 



lyptic angel spread for its last triumphal flight in this day's 
sunset ; or if to-morrow morning the ocean cables should 
thrill us with the news that Christ the Lord had alighted 
on Mount Olivet or Mount Calvary to proclaim universal 
dominion. O you dead churches, wake up ! O Christ, 
descend ! Scarred temple, take the crown ! Bruised hand, 
take the sceptre ! Wounded foot, step the throne ! Thine 
is the kingdom." 1 

8. Sidney Collett, a distinguished Bible student, 
writes in his excellent book, " All About the Bible," 
saying : 

"Already this earth has groaned and travailed under 
man's sin for about six thousand years, and many Bible 
students believe there are undoubted signs, taken in con- 
junction with the prophecies, that this age is rapidly draw- 
ing to a close, and that, ere long, the glorious Millennial 
era will dawn and the curse forever be removed." 2 

II.— THE MILLENNIUM AND ITS RELATION TO 
THE LORD'S RETURN 

"The thousand years" (Rev. xx. 3, 5). 

9. Statement. It is agreed by all that the Mil- 
lennium will be a long period of time marked by the 
binding of Satan and the triumph of holiness through- 
out the world. Six times in the book of Revelation 
(xx. 1-7) this glorious era is designated as a thousand 
years. By analogy its duration was inferred from the 
seventh day of rest which followed the six days of 
creation, also from Psalm xc. 4 and 2 Peter iii. 7. The 
assurance of a Millennium of universal righteousness 
was gathered from the Old Testament Prophecies. 
The Revelation of St. John, written twenty-six years 
after the destruction of Jerusalem by the armies of 

1 Sims, " Shadows," p. 41. s Page 265. 



THE MILLENNIUM 



33 



Titus, 1 came as an overwhelming testimonial confirm- 
ing the prophets, specifying the duration, and put- 
ting to silence the tongueof every objector for more 
than a hundred years. 

10. Origin of the Word. Our word millennium 
is derived from the Latin, mille, meaning a thousand, 
and annus, a year. The Greek word for a thousand 
is x^ toc y chilioi. 2 The early Christians were called 
Chiliasts. 

11. Definition of the Term. The " Standard" 
and the " Century Dictionaries' 7 : 

"The one thousand years of the kingdom of Christ on 
earth, based on Rev. xx. 1-5." 

" Webster's International" : " The one thousand years 
mentioned in the twentieth chapter of Revelation." 

"The Cambridge Bible" on Rev. xx. 4: "This pas- 
sage is quite sufficient foundation for the doctrine even if 
it stood alone, and there are many other prophecies which, 
if not teaching it plainly, may fairly be understood to refer 
to it." — P. 122 in loc. 

12. Character of the Age. We present a brief 
sketch of the general features of the Millennium as out- 
lined by various writers. 

The " Encyclopedic Dictionary " reads : " Satan will be 
confined in the bottomless pit, having first been bound by 
an angel with a great chain (Rev. xx. 1-3) whilst the souls 
of those who have been beheaded for the witness of Jesus 
. . . shall live and reign with Christ a thousand 
years." 

Hastings' "Bible Dictionary": "Satan is confined in 
the abyss, and the martyrs and saints reign with Christ." 

1 See date of Revelation shown (323); also Kurtz, « Ch. Hist.," 
I, 182, on the Scripture origin of Chiliasm. 

2 Simple forms of Greek terms are adopted. See Directory, 
" Young." 



34 THE LOED'S EETUEN SEEN IN HISTOEY 



Webster remarks : " Holiness is to be triumphant 
throughout the world." 

From Field's "Theology" the following notes are 
abridged : 1 

1. The universal diffusion of revealed truth (Isa. xi. 
9; xxv. 7). 

2. Undisturbed harmony and peace (Isa. ii. 4 ; 
Micah iv. 3). 

3. Universal reception of the true religion, and unlim- 
ited subjection to the sceptre of Christ (Psa. ii. 6-8 ; xxii. 
27, 28; lxxii. 8-1 1 ; Isa. ii. 2, 3; Zech. ix. 9, 10; 
xiv. 9). 

4. All kings and governments will be Christian, and 
consecrate their influence to Christ and His Church (Psa. 
lxxii. 11 j Isa. xlix. 23). 

5. All classes will come into the fellowship of the 
Church. 

6. Great temporal prosperity will prevail. 

7. The kingdoms of the world will become the king- 
doms of God and of Christ. 

Barnes specifies: "The Hebrew people will embrace 
the Messiah." 2 

Binney notes that " Satan is bound." 3 

Hodge declares that "all antichristian powers shall be 
destroyed." * 

David Brown of Glasgow sees spiritual forces "not only 
defeating Antichrist, but thereafter, for a thousand years, 
never permitting the devil to gain an inch of ground to 
plant his foot on over the wide world." 5 

John Wesley writes in glowing terms : 

"The earth is no longer full of cruel habitations. The 
Lord hath destroyed both the bloodthirsty and the mali- 
cious, the envious and revengeful man. Were there any 
provocation, there is none that knoweth to return evil for 
evil ; but indeed there is none that doeth evil, no, not one ; 



»P. 256. 

'"Theological Compend," p. 140. 
4 " Systematic Theology," III, 866. 



s " Notes Rev.," p. 462. 
5 " Sec. Adv.," p. 411. 



THE MILLENNIUM 



35 



for all are harmless as doves ... all love as breth- 
ren, they are all of one heart and of one soul." The Lord 
causes "every heart to overflow with love, and fills every 
mouth with praise." — "Sermons," I, 40. 

In another sermon Wesley declares : " Another scene 
will soon be opened. God will be jealous of His honour ; 
He will arise and maintain His own cause. He will judge 
the prince of this world, and spoil him of his usurped do- 
minion. . . . The loving knowledge of God, pro- 
ducing uniform, uninterrupted holiness and happiness, 
shall cover the earth ; shall fill every soul of man. . . . 
Only suppose God to act irresistibly, and the thing is done." 
—"Sermons, 1 ' II, 76. 1 

13. Duration of the Period. The Millennium is 
a specific era of limited duration, however long it 
may last. 

The " Century Dictionary " : " It is generally regarded 
as an indefinite but long period " (VI, 3765). 

Field remarks that "the happy period is no short and 
transient age. Generation after generation, in long and 
unbroken series, shall see the glory of the Redeemer, and 
bask in His favour, and exult in His triumphs." — "The- 
ology," p. 256. 

Some think it will be less than a thousand years, while 
Dr. Adam Clarke 2 and Hugh Miller 3 have thought it may 
last 365,000 years ! Clarke, however, is very hesitant. 

The inspired Apostle John makes it a " thousand years," 
and it is generally believed that this will be its approximate 
length.* 

14. Extent of Belief in a Millennium. Since 

iFrom Dr. Asa Mahan, President of Oberlin (Ohio) College, an 
eminent holiness writer (" Baptism of the Holy Ghost," N. Y., 1870, 
pp. 141, 142), and from many other equally respectable sources, we 
have testimony similar to that quoted from Wesley. See Bishop 
Hamline in" The Life Beyond," p. 369; J. H. Potts, 1899. See 
outline in Nave's " Student's Bible," 1907, p. 17 13. (See 183-185.) 

2 "Com. N. T.," I, 176. 8 "Ency. Diet," III, 3135. 

4 Rev. xx. 2-6. 



36 THE LOBD'S KETUBN SEEN IN HISTOEY 



Adam by sin was banished from Eden the creation 
has groaned under the curse of God. Human society- 
is laden with labour and sorrow ; animals are fero- 
cious ; even vegetation is blighted. Man covets the 
flight of the birds in the air and labours hard to 
follow them. While they play in the storm and 
bathe on the crest of the foaming billows he earns 
his bread by the sweat of his brow. Human instinct 
feels its humiliation and looks for a better age here 
on this earth. 

In ancient times "the expectation of a golden age that 
should return upon earth was common among heathen 
nations," says Professor Worman of Drew Seminary, citing 
his proof from Hesiod, Ovid, Virgil and Eusebius. 1 Farrar 
points to the testimony of Tacitus, Suetonius and Josephus 
showing the prevalence of belief in their day that a mon- 
arch would arise from Judea and rule the whole world, 2 
and Confucius said such a monarch would come. It was 
assured by Zoroaster and written in the pagan standards. 
It runs through the Talmud. Far and wide the belief was 
diffused by Daniel and the scattered Jews after the Baby- 
lonish captivity. 

Some infidel philosophers, as C. F. DeLambert, Con- 
dorcet, and others 3 have taught a system of ethics assuring 
the perfectibility of the human race by education and 
evolution. 

Socialism hopes to realize an ideal commonwealth by a 
revolution of the present political and social order. 

Peloubet says "the Bible golden age is before us and 
not behind us. . . . Only with Jesus as King can 
these good times come. . . . The Millennium is as 
certain to come as that God rules." 4 

Bishop Merrill remarks that "men of widely different 

iM, VI, 137. 2 Peloubet, "Notes," 1887, p. 184. 

3 M, V, 208. See Carlyle's " French Revolution," London, 1837, 
p. 102. 

4 "Notes," 1898, p. 289. 



THE MILLENNIUM 



87 



views will claim to believe in a Millennium of some kind," 
and he declares that "it is impossible to interpret the 
Scriptures without anticipating a universal diffusion of the 
knowledge of God and of His Son Jesus Christ, to the ex- 
tent that the religion of the Bible shall become the religion 
of mankind throughout the earth." 1 

Dr. Hodge: "What almost all Christians believe is, 
that all nations shall be converted to God. ... All 
antichristian powers shall be destroyed." 2 

Raymond in his "Theology" observes that "all Chris- 
tians now speak of a Millennium in which they believe. 
. . . That expectation is grounded on adequate evi- 
dence. ... All believe in a Millennium." 3 

The "Century Dictionary" : "Belief in such a period 
is universal in the Christian Church " (VI, 3765). 

15. Whether Before or After the Lord's Re- 
turn. Those who believe Christ will return before 
the Millennium are known as pre-millenarians, or 
pre-millennialists. Those who believe Christ will not 
return visibly and personally until after the Millen- 
nium are called post-millenarians. Until compara- 
tively recent times the designation pre and post was 
unnecessary. A Chiliast or Millenarian was a be- 
liever in the doctrine of the personal return of Christ 
to reign visibly during the Millennium, and many 
writers still so designate persons of this faith. Their 
doctrine has always been known as ' 1 the doctrine of 
the Millennium.' 7 4 

*" Second Coming," pp. 154, 155. 

2 " Sys. Theol.," Ill, 866. 3 " Theology," II, 472, 473. 

4 See Gibbon (" Decline and Fall," etc., Collier ed., 1900, p. 546) ; 
Hastings' « Bible Diet.," Ill, 370 ; " UEP Ency.," and others. Pro- 
fessor Fisher (Yale) says: "The Millenarians or Chiliasts, in ancient 
and modern times, are characterized by their tenet respecting the 
second advent of Jesus, which they believe will be accompanied by 
the resurrection of the martyrs and saints, who will reign with Him 
on earth, in a state of blessedness and rest, for a thousand years " 
(Art. « Millen.," McClintock & Strong, VI, 264). 



38 THE LORD'S RETURN SEEN IN HISTORY 



16. Pre-Millennial Doctrine Stated. Objections 
Heard. Reply. 

(a) The doctrine of the Lord's return before the 
Millennium as held by orthodox pre-millenarians of 
the present day is exactly what the early Christians 
believed and taught during the first three centuries 
of the Christian era (30-65) . From the testimony of 
historians and particularly from the doctrines set 
forth in the writings of the Fathers the following will 
be found to be a correct statement of the faith of the 
early Church : 

1. The bodies of the martyrs and saints will be literally 
resurrected before the commencement of the Millennium. 

2. Christ will return as personally and visibly as He 
ascended, and His coming precedes the Millennium. 

3. The government of the world for a thousand years 
will be under the administration of Christ and His glori- 
fied saints. 

4. There will be an absolute restriction of the powers 
of hell during this period, bringing immunity from tempta- 
tion, deception and sorrowful toil. 

5. Antichrist will be destroyed by the fire of divine 
wrath and earth will be renovated for millennial rest. 
False religion will cease. 

6. The glory of the Latter Day promised in the Old 
Testament prophecies will then be realized. 

(b) Objections to pre-millennial doctrine are pre- 
sented by Dr. Hodge in the third volume of his 
u Systematic Theology." His objections are stated 
at some length. They may be condensed into the 
following points : 

(1) The doctrine is Jewish ; (2) it teaches that good and 
bad do not rise at once in the resurrection ; (3 ) that there 
are two judgments ; (4) that the resurrected saints receive 
a " worldly kingdom " ; (5) that the saints are degraded 



THE MILLENNIUM 



39 



from heaven to earth; (6) Jew and Gentile distinctions 
remain ; (7) the Gospel is disparaged ; (8) advocates of 
the doctrine differ. 

(c) To the above objections it may be replied : 

(1) The doctrine comes from Moses, David, Isaiah, Dan- 
iel, Zachariah, Jesus of Nazareth, Paul and the Apostles, of 
whom not the least is St. John the divine. In some re- 
spects it is Jewish. (2, 3) Points 2 and 3 are admitted. 

(4) The kingdom will be on earth, but it will be holy, 
God's will being done as it is now being done in heaven. 

(5) The return to earth of the glorified saints will be 
no degradation. It will be their coronation and enthrone- 
ment. (6) Jews and Gentiles will be distinguished in 
some respects, but divine discrimination will rest upon 
moral grounds. (7) It exalts the Gospel and extols the 
power of the Blood to save every soul, but laments the 
practical rejection of the Gospel by the world at large and 
understands the Sermon on the Mount to teach that during 
this dispensation the "many" will tread the broad way 
which leads to destruction, and comparatively "few" will 
really take the " narrow way." 1 (8) Pre writers agree on 
essential points. Post writers differ (289-291). 

17. Statement of the Post-Millennial Theory. 

(a) Daniel Whitby (217) of England is generally 
regarded as the father of the modern post-millennial 
theory. This theory Bishop Henshaw calls " a novel 
doctrine, unknown to the Church for the space of 
sixteen hundred years," and then " advanced by the 
Eev. Dr. Whitby." 2 Whitby himself styles his own 
theory "A new hypothesis," and explains that his 
scheme of interpretation is "framed according to 
it." 3 Yitringa, Faber and Brown are the ablest 
followers of Whitby. According to this theory 



1 Matthew vii. 13, 14. 

2 On the " Sec. Adv.," p. 115; Taylor, p. 229. 

3 " Treatise on Tradition," quoted by Taylor, p. 231. 



40 THE LOED'S KETUKX SEEN IN HISTOEY 



1. The first resurrection is a revival of the cause, prin- 
ciples, doctrines, character and spirit of the early martyrs 
and saints. It is ecclesiastical, spiritual, national. 

2. It lies in the future. The Millennium will be pre- 
ceded by triumph over Papal Antichrist and the conversion 
of the Mohammedan world. 

3. Satan no longer deceives; the doctrines of the 
martyrs and their spirit is revived like that of Elias in 
John the Baptist. 

4. The Church will flourish and holiness will triumph 
for a thousand years. The world will enjoy paradisiacal 
blessedness while martyrs and saints in heaven sympathize 
with its joy. The triumph on earth will be universal. 1 

(b) A very recent statement of post-millennial doc- 
trine may be found in Professor Beckwith's article 
on the "Millennium," in the new Schaff-Herzog 
"Cyclopedia" : 

1. "Through Christian agencies the Gospel gradually 
permeates the entire world and becomes immeasurably 
more effective than at present. 

2. "This condition thus reached will continue for a 
thousand years. 

3. " The Jews will be converted either at the begin- 
ning or some time during this period. 

4. " Following this will be a brief apostasy and ter- 
rible conflict of Christian and evil forces. 

5. "Finally and simultaneously there will occur the 
advent of Christ, general resurrection, judgment, the old 
world destroyed by fire, the new heavens and the new 
earth will be revealed." 2 

18. Objections to the Post-Millennial Theory. 

Having presented a fair and correct statement of 
post- millennial doctrine, the following remarks from 

1 See Elliott's condensation of Whitby's doctrine, " Horse Apoc," 
IV, 133, 134. 

2 Schaff-Herzog, VII, 377. 



THE MILLENNIUM 



41 



the able Dr. Duffield (225), of Princeton, New Jersey, 
give some reasons why pre-millenarians expect no 
Millennium of world-wide holiness before the time of 
the Lord's return : 

(a) " Were the doctrine true, it would undoubtedly be 
prominent in the New Testament, and especially in the 
Apostolic Epistles. The fact is, it is not only not promi- 
nent, but, as far as we are concerned, the advocates of the 
doctrine do not pretend to find in the Epistles the slightest 
allusion to it. 

(b) "The uniform and abundant teaching of the New 
Testament as to the condition of the Church and of the 
world during the present dispensation — that is, until the 
advent — forbid the expectation of such a millennium 
(358-362). 

(c) "The advent itself, not the millennium, is promi- 
nently presented in the New Testament as < the blessed 
hope ' of the Church, and is uniformly referred to as an 
event ever at hand, ever imminent, to be ' looked for ' with 
longing expectation. 

(d) "The New Testament teaches repeatedly and un- 
equivocably that the advent and the manifestation of the 
Messianic kingdom are to be synchronous events. 

(e) "The Apostolic Church, under the instruction of 
holy men who spake and wrote as they were moved by the 
Holy Ghost, was millenarian (30-45). 

(f) "The Church, for two centuries immediately suc- 
ceeding the Apostles, was millenarian (36, 49-62). 

(g) "The Saviour's repeated command to 1 watch' for 
His Coming, because we 'know not the hour,' is incon- 
sistent with the idea of a millennium intervening (378). 

(h) "The doctrine of a millennium before the advent 
of Christ is not to be found in the standards of any of the 
Churches of the Reformation ; by several it is expressly 
repudiated. It is a modern novelty, suggested but one 
hundred and fifty years ago by Whitby, and avowedly as 
' a new hypothesis.' " 1 



i Hodge, « Sys. Theol.," Ill, 861. 



42 THE LOKD'S EETURN SEEN IN HISTOEY 



ACCORDING TO STATEMENTS MADE AND OPINIONS EX- 
PRESSED BY VARIOUS PERSONS "WE SEE THE DAWN 
OF NO MILLENNIUM BEFORE THE LORD RETURNS. 

19. Reformers. As representatives of the early 
Reformers we shall hear the testimonies of Luther, 
Melancthon and Knox : 

(a) Martin Luther: "Some say that before the latter 
days the whole world shall become Christian. This is a 
falsehood forged by Satan." 1 

(b) Philip Melancthon : " The true Church will always 
suffer persecution from the wicked. ... In the church 
itself the good and evil will continue blended together." 8 

(c) John Knox, the Scottish reformer, on the prospect 
of universal reform, remarks : "It never was, nor yet shall 
be, till the righteous King and Judge appear for the res- 
toration of all things." 3 . . . But, "we know that 
He shall return, and that with expedition." 4 

20. B. T. Roberts, who in 1860 became the founder 
of a radical branch of Methodism, wrote the follow- 
ing lines : 

(a) "The professed church of Jesus Christ is rapidly 
passing from the dispensation of the Holy Ghost into the 
dispensation of worldly riches." 

(b) "The church is in a fair way to be completely 
captured by the world. The distinction between the two 
is rapidly becoming obliterated. . . . The Christi- 
anity of this country is gradually becoming like that which 
prevails in the State Church of Europe. . . . Perilous 
times are upon us. . . . Hell is coming to earth. It 
is here already." 

(c) "The teachings of the Jesuits is one cause of the 
great decline of business morality in this country." Rob- 
erts uttered many solemn warnings against the encroach - 

» « Com. John x. 11-16," T, p. 158. 

» Seiss, " Last Times," p. 57, and see pp. 56-58, Ibid. 

3 Taylor, " Voice," p. 15 1 ; and Seiss, Ibid. ' 4 T, p. 151. 



THE MILLENNIUM 



43 



ments of Rome, and lamented " the prevailing materialism 
of the age " (310). 

(d) " The American people should wake up to the fact 
that we are rapidly verging on a state of anarchy." 1 

21. T. DeWitt Talmage needs no introduction. 
He said : 

" Where there is one man brought into the kingdom of 
God through Christian instrumentality, there are ten men 
dragged down by dissipation." 2 

22. Dr. J. M. Buckley, who for a quarter of a 
century was the distinguished editor of the New York 
Christian Advocate,wrotQ : 

" The strides of the past fifteen years have been so rapid 
that there are actually hundreds, and will soon be thou- 
sands, of churches in America as absolutely devoid of the 
spirit of God as they would be if they had been originally 
intended as literary and social clubs. ' ' 3 

23. Josiah Strong, the noted sociologist, concedes : 

" Long since it became apparent that those who are not 
Christians are on the increase in the world." * 

24. James Johnston, secretary of the World's Mis- 
sionary Conference in London in 1888, said : 

"The heathen and Mohammedan population of the 
world is more by 200,000,000 than it was a hundred years 
ago ; while the converts and their families do not amount 
to 3,000,000. The increase of the heathen is, numerically, 
more than seventy times greater than that of the converts 
during the century of Christian missions." 5 

1 " Pungent Truths," W. B. Rose, Chicago, 19 12, paragraphs 63, 
69, 85, 209, 255, 488-492, 344, 508, respectively. B. T. Roberts 
was a very learned man, and the well-known editor of the Earnest 
Christian. 

2 Quoted by Sims, " Shadows," p. 129. 

8 Quoted by Sims, " Bridegroom," p. 52, who recites at length. 
4 « The New Era," N. Y., 1893, P- 2 54- 
6 « Cent. Prot. Missions," p. 9. 



44 THE LORD'S BETUBN SEEN IN HISTOEY 



" Bishop McDowell, after close study, expresses his doubt 
if India can ever be won by the present scale of operations. 
Mohammedans increase faster than Christians to-day. " 1 At 
the present time the growth of Mohammedanism in Africa 
is alarming the missionaries. 

25. Eugene W. Chafin, a prohibitionist of na- 
tional fame, addressing a state convention in Wiscon- 
sin, June 11, 1912, made this acknowledgment : 

" After seventy years of the most heroic effort ever 
made, and at a sacrifice greater in time, money, and ef- 
fort than any other cause in the world's history, we find 
ourselves with the liquor traffic stronger and more thoroughly 
entrenched in the national government than ever before 
and more liquor consumed annually than in any former 
year of our entire history." 2 

Science and decent civilization, without the aid of the 
Christian religion, ought to abolish the liquor traffic. 

26. The World in Arms. " Never in the history 
of the world," says Dr. Haldeman, " has there been 
such a spectacle — the whole world under arms." 
Continuing, Haldeman observes : 

" One startling thing about it all is, that this state of af- 
fairs comes in after two thousand years of gospel preach- 
ing, two thousand years of human progress, and in a cen- 
tury of, so called, highest civilization and culture the world 
has ever known." 3 

Triple Entente and Triple Alliance, armed to the teeth, 
stand facing each other like ancient knights. (See 359c.) 

27. Editorial Thought in Secular Journalism. 

Addressing an editorial banquet in New York City, 

1 Christian Witness, Jan. 18, 1912, quoting editor of Zion's Herald. 
3 " Government by Administration," Nat'l Prohib. Book Store, 
Chicago. 

3,4 Signs of the Times," 1910, pp. 7, 11. 



THE MILLENNIUM 



45 



Whitelaw Eeid, of the Tribune, serves this mixture 
of truth and wit : 

"We are the tools and vassals of rich men behind the 
scenes. We are jumping jacks; they pull the strings and 
we dance. We are intellectual prostitutes." 1 

With this thought in mind let us hearken again to the 
voice of Dr. Talmage who knew something about New 
York: " Three hundred journals, magazines and newspa- 
pers in the city of New York — three hundred ! and I un- 
dertake to say that two hundred of them are hostile to the 
Christian religion and to all good morals." 2 

New York Herald : "Crimes of all descriptions are on 
the increase, especially those of the blackest dye ; the in- 
crease being much greater than the increase in popula- 
tion." 3 

The Scientific American: "Crimes of the most out- 
rageous and unprecedented character abound throughout 
the country, and probably throughout the world, to a de- 
gree wholly unparallelled." * 

We might quote a vast amount of similar testimony 
gleaned by various writers from the leading period- 
icals in Europe and America. 5 

28. Lines from the Pens of Poets. 

"Meanwhile the earth increased in wickedness, 
And hasted daily to fill her cup. 
Satan raged loose, Sin had her will, 
And Death enough." 

— Robert Pollock, " Course of Time." 

1 Sims, " Bridegroom," p. 93. 2 Ibid., quoting, p. 93. 

8 Ibid., pp. 96, 97. 4 Ibid., pp. 97, 98. 

6 See Sims, Seiss, Taylor and many others, who quote English 
prime ministers and members of parliament, ambassadors, U. S. gov- 
ernors and senators. See also D. T. Taylor, " The Increase of 
Crime " ; A. J. Gordon, " Ecce Venit " ; I. M. Haldeman, " Signs 
of the Times " ; W. B. Godbey, " Commentary " (especially Volume 
VII, pp. 335, 336) ; Newman Smythe, " Passing Protestantism and 
Coming Catholicism"; Philip Mauro, "The Number of Man." 



46 THE LORD'S RETURN SEEN EN HISTORY 



" Truth shall retire, 
Bestuck with slanderous darts, and works of faith 
Rarely be found ; so shall the world go on, 
To good malignant, to bad men benign, 
Under her own weight groaning, till the day 
Appear, of reparation to the just 
And vengeance to the wicked, at return 
Of Him, thy Saviour and thy Lord." 

—John Milton, "Paradise Lost," XII, 535. 

29. Russell's Millennial Dawn Heresies. The 

pernicious heresies of a " Pastor Russell " have ac- 
tually been associated with orthodox pre-niillennialism 
despite the fact that he holds more ground in common 
with post-millennial than with pre-millennial writers. 
He is an exegetical monstrosity standing in a class of 
his own. Cheap books teaching his doctrines are 
being scattered broadcast over the land. His " Stud- 
ies in the Scriptures n are in reality wide departures 
from sacred truth, confusing the undiscerning and 
disgusting the well informed. The following abstract 
is taken from three volumes : I. The Divine Plan of 
the Ages; II. TJie Time is at Hand ; III. Tliy King- 
dom Come. 1 

(a) Angels are mortal beings (1, 186, 187). 

(b) Jesus Christ was a created spirit, inferior to the 
Father (I, 174-186). 

(c) When in the body, Christ was human only ; there 
was nothing divine about Him (I, 174, 176-180). 

(d) The body of Christ was not resurrected. It was 
diffused into gas ; or, it may be preserved somewhere and 
exhibited during the Millennium (II, 107, 129, 130). 

1 Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society \ Allegheny, 190S ; now 
Brooklyn, New York. "I. B. S. A." — " International Bible Stu- 
dents' Association " — is the name now adopted. See " The Funda- 
mentals," VII, 106-127, art. by Prof. W. G. Moorehead. 



THE MILLENNIUM 



47 



(e) The spirit of Christ became divine after leaving the 
body (I, 179; II, 133). 

(f) Six thousand years from Adam expired in 1872 
(II, 54, 242). 

(g) The Millennium commenced in 1874(11, 182, 187) 
and "the Bridegroom actually came in 1874" (II, 240; 
III, 190). Apostles and the dead in Christ were resur- 
rected "in the spring of 1878 " (III, 234, 235, 302-306). 

(h) "His appearing was invisible" (II, 121, 122). 
His coming "in the clouds" with " power and great 
glory," and His coming "in flaming fire" are figurative 
in meaning (II, 138, 150, 152, 153). 

(i) As to the Lord's descent " with a shout," Russell 
remarks : " The aspect of the world for the past fifteen 
years strikingly corresponds with this symbol, in the out- 
burst of world-wide encouragement for all men to wake 
up. . . . Where on the face of the earth is the civi- 
lized nation that has not heard that shout, and been in- 
fluenced by it ! The shout of encouragement started by 
the increase of knowledge among men has already encir- 
cled the earth ! " (II, 146). 

(j) "His feet shall stand upon the Mount of Olives " 
(Zech. xiv. 4) is figurative in meaning (II, 157). 

(k) Christ is on the earth now, and " scoffers " are too 
busy to see it (II, 166, 168, 169). "The fact, then, that 
His presence is not known by the world, or even among 
Christians, is no argument against this truth " (II, 189). 
Note: All "civilized nations heard the shout when He 
came," but the fact that His presence now may not be 
known "even among Christians" is no argument against 
it ! • Everything relating to His return is figurative — the 
"shout" was figurative, the "clouds," the " Mount of 
Olives," the "flaming fire," and everything else, is fig- 
urative. 

(1) This age will close in 19 14 (II, 189). 

(m) Elijah is the Church (II, 251, 252). 

(n) "The general gospel call, the true one, is ended. 
None can extend it" (III, 219). 

(o) Truth has been consuming Antichrist, a system, 
since 1879 (II, 272, 273). 



48 THE LOED'S RETURN SEEX IX HISTORY 



(p) The wicked will be resurrected, believe, and be 
saved to rejoice in the Kingdom (I, 99, 106, no, 112, 
H3> I 47> 

(q) Christians are not " fully born of the Spirit " until 
the resurrection (I, 233, 235, 236). Christ was " born of 
the Spirit " at the time of His resurrection, and so is every 
one that is born of the Spirit (I, 230, 231). "Justification 
does not change our nature" (I, 232). 

(r) After the Millennium there is no final judgment, no 
future punishment (I, 345). 

(s) The finally impenitent will be annihilated (I, 158, 

i59j 2 39> 345)- 

(t) Y\ e are to publicly testify to these teachings, and if 
they are not received we are to st publicly withdraw " from 
the congregation rejecting them. Xo-sectism is advised. 
" Withdrawal Letters " for legally severing church relation- 
ship are advertised in a foot-note (III, 184-187). 

There is little hope of turning people who firmly 
believe such doctrines. With orthodox Bible students 
it is unnecessary to review the errors. 1 In 1911 three 
uew volumes appeared with little modification in 
teaching from that above cited. It is hoped that 
such unscriptural teachings will no longer be as- 
sociated with sound Bible truth concerning the doc- 
trine of the pre- millennial return of our Lord and 
Saviour Jesus Christ. 

Jesus, hasten the day of Thy glorious personal ap- 
pearing in majesty and power. ''Thy kingdom 
come ; Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven " 
(Matt. vi. 10). 

1 Professor Moorehead characterizes the Millennial Dawn of Rus- 
sellism as " a mixture of Umtarianism, Universalism, Second Proba- 
tion, Restorationisra, and the Swedenborgian method of exegesis. 
Let the reader remember that imposition is not exposition, nor is 
eisegesis exegesis (» Fundamentals," VII, 127). 



SECTION II. — THE PEE-MILLENNIAL FAITH 
OF THE EAELY CHUEOH 

IH.— THE CREED OF THE APOSTLES WAS 
PRE-MILLENNIAL 
"Ye shall be witnesses " (Acts i. 8). 

30. Divine Foundation. The early Church was 
solidly pre-millennial in faith. The doctrine found 
expression in apocalyptic literature. 1 The Christian 
belief was founded upon the writings of the Old 
Testament prophets and the teachings of Jesus 
Christ. Later it was gathered from, the inspired 
Epistles of the New Testament and confirmed by the 
Eevelation to St. John on the Isle of Patmos. 

31. Testimony by Eminent Educators. Dr. 
Fisher, professor of Ecclesiastical History in Yale 
University, notes that in apostolic faith "the second 
coming of Christ is looked upon as an event not 

1 The best scholarship is reviving a remarkable interest in 
apocalyptic literature. Its teachings are essentially pre-millennial. 
A few writings are worthy of mention : 

1. The Ethiopic " Book of Enoch " (200-64 b. c.). For its his- 
tory see M, III, 225-230. Some have believed, with plausible reason, 
that it may have been inspired. Jude 14, 15 are strikingly similar 
to a passage in ch. ii of Lawrence's version of the" Book of Enoch." 
See them in M, III, 229. N. T. phrases and clauses nearly identical 
with those in the "Book of Enoch" are found in Matt. xix. 28; 
xxv. 41 ; xxvi. 24; Lk. ix. 35; xvi. 9; xxiii. 35; John v. 22, 27 ; 
Acts iii. 14; Rom. viii. 39; ix. 5; Eph. i. 21 ; Heb. xi. 5; Jude 4, 
14, 15; Rev. ii. 7; iii. 10; iv. 6; vi. 10; ix. I; xiv. 20; xx. 13. 
Strong pre in teaching. 

2. " Sibylline Oracles," Greek, by Jewish and Christian writers, 

49 



50 THE LOED'S EETUEN SEEN IN HISTOEY 



remote." 1 Professor Eopes, engaged in the prepara- 
tion of the " International Critical Commentary " and 
employed as Harvard instructor in New Testament 
Criticism, has written a book entitled, i ' The Apostolic 
Age." He speaks of "the marked emphasis seen in 
the Gospels on the idea of the speedy second coming 
of Christ," and observes that in the days of the 
Apostles this belief was " universally cherished." 
He remarks that " St. Paul looked for the reappear- 
ance of Christ." 2 Many similar statements might be 
quoted from the highest seats of learning in England 
and America. (See also 156.) 

32. Apostolic Writing and Preaching in the City 
of Rome. Many of Paul's Epistles were written from 
Eome. Paul established the Church at Eome. He 
and the Apostle Peter were martyred in that ancient 
city. 3 Luke, who wrote the Acts of the Apostles, 
was with Paul at Eome (2 Tim. iv. 11). 

180 B. c. to 350 A. D. Quoted by T, pp. 31-33. Pre on all points 
"Apocalypse of Peter" (S-H, VII, 375). 

3. " Psalms of Solomon," Hebrew, 70-40 B. C. 

4. "Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs," Hebrew, Jewish au- 
thorship, 130B. C. to 10 A. D. Author, Christian Jew. 

5. " Book of Jubilees," Hebrew, 40-10 b. C. 

6. "Assumption of Moses," Hebrew or Aramaic, 14-30 A. D. 

7. "Ascension of Isaiah," Jewish and Christian writers, I-IOO 
A. D. " Fourth Book of Ezra." " Second Book of Esdras." See 
analyses of these books by Prof. Charles in Hastings' " Bible Diet." 
and Moses Stuart's "Com. Apoc." Consult originals. These books, 
1-7, are ancient, reveal prevalent beliefs, and contain many truths in 
accord with Scripture. 

1 " History of Christian Doctrine," p. 47. 
8 " Apos. Age," pp. 75, 165, 172. 

s Eusebius (" Chron.," I, 42) ; Irenasus (" Haer.," Ill, 1) ; Ter- 
tullian (" Prescript. Haeret.," p. 36) ; Lactantius (" Mort. Persec," 
p. 2 ; " Institut. Div.," IV, 21) ; Jerome (" Script. Eccl.," p. I) ; Caius 
of Rome and Dionysius of Corinth (M, VII, 817) ; Usher, Pearson, 
Cave, Neander, Gieseler, Bertholdt, Olshausen, Hilgenfeld, Rothe, 



CEEED OF THE APOSTLES 51 



Clement of Konie was a pre-millenarian. 1 (See 40. ) 
He knew the Apostles and their doctrine. 2 The faith 
of the Apostles and of the Church at Borne during 
the first century of the Christian era was solidly pre- 
millennial. 3 The papal claim that the Apostles' 
Creed was issued from Koine, Italy, need not be dis- 
puted; but the "Apostolic succession 77 claim fails 
utterly.* 

33. The Didache, or Teaching of the Twelve 
Apostles, is a valuable discovery. The Fathers 
quoted from it. Whole chapters are found in the 
Epistle of Barnabas (39, 41). 

According to Fisher " the authoritative source of 
Christian knowledge was always considered to be the 
teaching of the Lord through the Twelve Apostles, which 
forms the title of the " Didache." In phraseology of this 
kind the teaching of the Apostle Paul was understood to 
be included." 6 

The "Didache" was found in 1873 Dv Bryennios, an 
eastern prelate, and published to the world in 1883. It is 
assigned by some to a date earlier than 100 a. d. Its 

Plumptre, Thiersch, Schaff, Smith (" Bible Diet.") ; Hurst, " Hist. 
Ch'n Ch.," I, 105 ; Myers (" Gen. Hist.," p. 348) ; M, VII, 1 3 ; VIII, 
13, 14. On the other hand, however, some deny that Peter ever saw 
Rome ("Pop. and Crit. Bib. Ency.," II, 1320, 1321). 

1 Fourteen chapters (xxiii-xxxvii) of Clement's " First Epistle to 
the Corinthians " present continually repeated exhortations " in view 
of the second coming of Christ " (M, II, 377). 

' Irenseus, writing between 182-188 A. D., speaks of Clement as 
" having seen and conversed with blessed apostles who founded the 
Church in Rome " («« Adv. Hasr.," Ill, 3, seen in M, II, 376). 

3 Nothing to the contrary has been found. Linus, bishop of Rome 
after the martyrdom of Paul and Peter (M, V, 444), and Anacletus 
(or Cletus), lived but a short time and left no writings except a short 
account of Peter's dispute with Simon Magus, by Linus (M, I, 211 ; 
V, 444). Clement succeeded Anacletus. 

4 M, X, 5, 6, and authorities generally. 
6 " Hist. Ch'n Doct.," p. 70. 



52 THE LOED'S EETUEN SEEN IN HISTOEY 



teaching is chiliastic. Even its post-communion prayer 
ends with "Maranatha" — "The Lord Cometh." 1 It is 
another confirmation of the pre-millennial faith of the 
Apostles. The following lines are from the fourteenth 
chapter of this ancient writing : 

" Watch for your life's sake. Let not your lamps be 
quenched, nor your loins unloosed ; but be ye ready, for 
ye know not the hour in which the Lord cometh. . . . 
When lawlessness increaseth, they shall hate and betray 
and persecute one another, and then shall appear the 
world-deceiver as Son of God, and shall do signs and 
wonders, and the earth shall be delivered into his hands, 
and he shall do iniquitous things which have never yet 
come to pass since the beginning. Then shall the creation 
of men come into the fire of trial, and many shall be made 
to stumble and shall perish ; but they that endure in their 
faith shall be saved from under the curse itself. And then 
shall appear the sign of the truth ; first, the outspreading 
of the heaven ; then the sign of the sound of the trumpet ; 
and the third, the resurrection of the dead, yet not of all, 
but as it is said : The Lord shall come and all His saints 
with Him. Then shall the world see the Lord coming 
upon the clouds of heaven." — " Ante-Nicene Fathers" 
VII, 382. Compare with " Constitutions of the Holy 
Apostles," Ibid., p. 471. 

34. The " Old Roman Creed " was the Apostles' 
Creed. The Apostles' Creed was unknown in the 
East. 3 It emanated from the city of Eome, and was 
known as the "Old Eoman Creed." Kurtz informs 
us that the Apostles 7 Creed is a Gallic expansion of 
the Old Eoman Creed. 3 Kattenbusch calls the Old 
Eoman Creed the "grundstock" of the Apostles' 
Creed ; i. e., the very trunk of the tree, beginning at 
the ground. 4 Beckwith, in his Schaff-Herzog article, 



1 " Hist., Ch'n Doct.," p. 47. 

3 " Church History," I, 373. 

4 " Das Apostol. Symbol," I, 59-78. 



2 Ibid., p. 206. 



CEEED OF THE APOSTLES 53 



"Millennium," finds Cliiliasm echoed not only "in 
the orthodox writers of the Post-apostolic Age," but 
also " in the Old Eoman Creed." 1 

35. The Roman Catholic Church Corrupts the 
Creed. The Old Eoman Creed was an expression of 
the faith "of the Church scattered throughout the 
world," according to the testimony of Trenaeus, who 
calls it " the belief which has been received from the 
Apostles and their disciples. " 2 This belief, as already 
noted, was chiliastic. It was pre-millennial. 3 But 
the Eoman Catholic Church hates Chiliasm (91, 92) 
and this doctrine must be stricken from the creed. 
Of the Apostles' Creed Bishop Hurst affirms that "in 
its present full state we do not find that it existed be- 
fore the sixth or seventh century," but he admits 
that in its original form it may be traced to the 
middle of the second century (about 150 A. D.). * 
Fisher acknowledges that "there was no check upon 
mutations in its text," 5 and similar admissions are 
made by various authorities. 

1 Vol. VII, 375. 

2 " Adv. Haer.," I, 10. The ecclesiastical elements which crys- 
tallized into the Roman Catholic body after the Council of Nice 
are seen in motion at a much earlier date and possess more of the 
properties of paganism than of true Christianity. The Romish 
Church, while claiming apostolic primacy, actually rejected the 
apostolic faith and bitterly resisted the very people whom we shall 
find adhering to the primitive faith and walking in the good old 
paths of true apostolic succession. 

3 Dr. Semisch says, " Chiliasm constituted in the second century so 
decidedly an article of faith, that Justin held it up as a criterion of 
perfect orthodoxy "(Art." Chiliasmus," Herzog" Real-Ency.," quoted 
by Taylor, " Voice," p. 59). Dr. Burnet calls Justin " a witness be- 
yond all exception," and Adam Clarke says, " Justin abounds in 
sound, solid sense, the product of an acute and well cultivated mind " 
(T, p. 59). 

^ "Hist. Ch'n Ch.," I, 138. 
5 " Hist. Ch'n Doct.," p. 71. 



54 THE LOKD'S EETUEN SEEN IN HISTORY 



Rome, not satisfied with excision, made various ad- 
ditions. 

(a) Rome inserted the word "Catholic" between 
"Holy" and "Church." Catholic, from kadofoicos, 
means universal. By interpolation Rome made herself the 
Church ; all who are not of her communion are " schis- 
matics" and "heretics." "The Roman Church arro- 
gantly claims the name Catholic as exclusively her own, 
and designates all who do not belong to her communion 
as heretics and schismatics. It is bad enough for the 
Church of Rome to make this claim of the title 1 Catholic ' ; 
it is still worse for Protestants to concede it. . . . In 
fact, for Protestants to concede to Romanists the title 'Cath- 
olic ' is equivalent to acknowledging themselves heretics." 1 

(b) Rome inserted, "Descended into hell," which is 
the foundation of her doctrine of purgatory. 

(c) Other additions were made. 2 

Rome charges Protestantism with ignorance. Shall 
we not entertain the charge, dismiss our credulity, 
and go back to uncorrupted sources ? Let us have 
the creed of the Apostles, not of the Roman Catholic 
Church. 3 

IV. — WHAT HISTORIANS SAY OF THE FAITH 
OF THE EARLY CHURCH 

During the first three hundred years the faith of 
the early Church, as we have seen, was pre-millennial. 
It has been shown that this was the faith of the Apos- 
tles. It is in order now to introduce testimony from 

»M, II, 159. 

2 For the text, with remarks, see Fisher's " Hist. Ch'n Doct.," 
p. 71. 

8 See note. Even Dr. Whitby states that pre doctrine " is now re- 
jected by all Roman Catholics," but that pre " passed among the best 
of Christians for two hundred and fifty years for a tradition apostol- 
ical " (" Treatise on Tradition," quoted at length by Taylor, " Voice," 
pp. 228-231). 



WHAT HISTOKIANS SAY 55 



historians confirming the fact that this was the faith 
delivered to the Church. 

36. The Testimony of Historians : 

(a) Schaff, the eminent ecclesiastical historian, writes : 
" The most striking point in the eschatology of the Ante- 
Nicene age is the prominent chiliasm, or millenarianism, 
that is, the belief of a visible reign of Christ in glory on 
earth with the risen saints for a thousand years before the 
general resurrection and judgment. ... It was a 
widely current opinion of distinguished teachers, such as 
Barnabas, Papias, Justin Martyr, Irenseus, Tertullian, 
Methodius and Lactantius. 

"The Christian Chiliasm is the Jewish chiliasm spiri- 
tualized, and fixed upon the second, instead of the first, 
coming of Christ. It distinguishes two resurrections, one 
before and another after the millennium, and makes the 
millennial reign of Christ only a prelude to His eternal 
reign in heaven, from which it is separated by a short in- 
terregnum of Satan." 1 

(b) Gibbon, in his great work, "The Decline and Fall 
of the Roman Empire" : "The ancient and popular doc- 
trine of the Millennium . . . was carefully inculcated 
by a succession of Fathers from Justin Martyr and Irenaeus, 
who conversed with the immediate disciples of the Apos- 
tles, down to Lactantius, who was the preceptor of the son 
of Constantine. ... It appears to have been the 
reigning sentiment of all orthodox believers." 2 

(c) Mosheim : " The prevailing opinion that Christ 
was to come and reign a thousand years among men before 
the final dissolution of the world had met with no opposi- 
tion until the time of Origen." 3 (See 316.) 

(d) Chillingworth : ''The doctrine of the millenaries 
was believed and taught by the most eminent Fathers of 
the age next after the Apostles, and by none of that age 

Church Hist.," N. Y., 1905, II, 614. 

2 Collier ed., N. Y., 1900, pp. 546-548, " Nations of the World " 
series, Gibbon, Vol. I. 

3 Mosheim, " Eccl. Hist.," Bait., 1842, I, S9 ; ch. Ill, sec. 2. 



56 THE LOED'S KETUEN SEEN IN HISTOEY 



opposed or condemned ; therefore, it was the Catholic 
(/. e., universal) doctrine of those times." 1 

(e) Gieseler, ecclesiastical historian: "This mille- 
narianism became the general belief of the time." 2 

(f ) Stackhoicse, theologian : "It cannot be denied that 
this doctrine has its antiquity, and was once the general 
opinion of all orthodox Christians." 3 

(g) Bishop Newton, eminent writer on prophecy : 
" The doctrine of the Millennium was generally believed 
in the first three and purest ages." 4 

(h) Bishop Russell, professor of ecclesiastical history 
in the Scottish Episcopal Church: " The belief was uni- 
versal and undisputed." 5 (See 226, 259, 274.) 

V.—AN EXAMINATION OF THE WRITINGS OF 
THE EARLY FATHERS 

APOSTOLIC FATHERS 

" Brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have 
been taught " (2 Thess. ii. 15). 

37. Wesley's Introduction. Wesley always 
spoke in highest terms of the Apostolic Fathers. 
They knew the Apostles of Christ. They lived and 
wrote before 120 A. D. They were holy men. 

John Wesley pays this tribute to the Apostolic 
Fathers : 

" They were contemporary with the Apostles themselves. 
. . . We cannot therefore doubt but what they deliver 

1 " Works," Phil., 1844, p. 730. s " Comp. Eccl. Hist.," I, 166. 

3 " Body of Divinity," I, 597. * " Dissert. Proph.," p. 527. 

5 " Discourse on Millen.," p. 236. For similar testimony consult 
Mede (" Works," pp. 602, 771) ; Hase (« Ch. Hist.," p. 688) ; Holmes 
(" Resur. Revealed," p. 370) ; Muencher (" Ch. Hist.," II, 415); 
Burton, of Oxford (" Bampton Lectures," 1829, p. 84); Alford 
(" N. T.," II, part 2, p. 1088) ; and other authorities as cited in 
"J. W. and Pre," pp. 18, 19 ; and by Seiss, " Last Times," pp. 245, 
398, 399, ed. 7. See Kurtz," Ch. Hist.," 1, 134 ; and copious proof 
in Taylor, 



APOSTOLIC FATHEES 



57 



to us the pure doctrine of the Gospel ; what Christ and 
His Apostles taught, and what these holy men had them- 
selves received from their own mouths. . . . They 
were themselves men of eminent character in the church 
. . . they were also persons of consummate piety. 
. . . They were zealous watchmen over their churches, 
careful to instruct them in the true faith of Christ. . . . 
Such reason have we to look on the writings of these holy 
men as containing the pure, uncorrupted doctrine of 
Christ. . . . They were likewise endued with ex- 
traordinary assistance of the Holy Spirit." 1 

38. Westcott's Observation. Some have asked 
why the early Fathers have not quoted more exten- 
sively from the New Testament Scriptures. Westcott, 
on the canon of the New Testament, remarks : 

" That the Apostolic Fathers do not appeal to the Apos- 
tolic Writings more frequently and more distinctly, springs 
from the very nature of their position. Those who had 
heard the living voice of the Apostles were unlikely to ap- 
peal to their written words. It is an instinct which makes 
us prefer any personal connection to the more remote rela- 
tionship of books." 2 

39. Barnabas, a Levite of Cypress, and co-worker 
with St. Paul, is mentioned twenty-nine times in the 
New Testament. He wrote his Epistle in A. d. 71. 
In 1859 Tischendorf found this entire Epistle with the 
Codex Sinaiticus at Mt. Sinai. It is the genuine pro- 
duction of Barnabas, who, Clement says, was one of 
the seventy sent out by the Saviour. 3 It was Barna- 

1 « Works," London, 1831, ed. 3, XIV, 238-240. Italics author's. 

2 Quoted by Nast, " Intro. Gospel Records," Cincinnati, 1866, 
P- 49. 

3 Quoted by Eusebius, " Eccl. Hist," book 11, ch. 1. That the 
Epistle of Barnabas is genuine is affirmed by Vossius, Dapuis, Mill, 
Cave, Burnet, S. Clarke, Wake, Fell, Whiston, Pierson, Carr, Lard- 
ner, Gieseler, Black and others. 



58 THE LOKD'S EETUEN SEEN IN HISTORY 



bas who introduced Paul, after his conversion, to the 
other Apostles. 1 Barnabas was stoned to death by 
the Jews about 75 A. d. He wrote : 

(a) " God made in six days the work of His hands, and 
He finished them the seventh day, and He rested the 
seventh day and sanctified it. Consider, my children, 
what that signifies ; He finished them in six days. The 
meaning of it is this : that in six thousand years God will 
bring all things to an end, for a day is with Him as a 
thousand years (Codex Sinaiticus reads, ' The day of the 
Lord shall be as a thousand years "). . . . Therefore, 
my children, in six days, that is, in six thousand years, all 
things will be finished. 

(b) " And He rested the seventh day. This meaneth : 
when His Son, coming, shall destroy the time of the wicked 
man, and judge the ungodly, and change the sun, and the 
moon, and the stars, then shall He truly rest on the seventh 
day. . . . Behold, therefore, certainly then one rest- 
ing sanctifies it, when we ourselves, having received the 
promise, wickedness no longer existing, and all things 
having been made new by the Lord, shall be able to work 
righteousness." 2 

40. Clement of Rome, mentioned in Phil. iv. 3 as 
a fellow-labourer with Paul, and as one whose name is 
in the book of life, wrote about A. D. 95. From his 
" First Epistle to the Corinthians," the following 
lines are taken : 

"Of a truth, soon and suddenly shall His will be ac- 

1 Acts ix. 27. 

2 Quoted from Scribners' " Ante-Nicene Fathers," N. Y., 1903, I, 
146, from which subsequent quotations are taken unless otherwise 
specified. On the Fathers read Wake's " Apos. Fathers," pp. 196- 
219, and "Apocryphal N. T.," pp. 90-104. See also Donaldson's 
"Apos. Fathers,'' pp. 230, 240, quoted in "J. W. and Pre," p. 14: 
" The true Sabbath is the Sabbath of the thousand years . . . 
when Christ comes back to reign. The righteous man expects the 
holy age." 



APOSTOLIC FATHEBS 59 



complished, as the Scriptures also bear witness, saying, 
' Speedily shall He come, and will not tarry ' ; and ' The 
Lord will suddenly come to His temple, even the Holy 
One, for whom ye look.' " 1 (Mai. iii. i.) 

" Let us be followers of those who went about in sheep- 
skins and goatskins, preaching the coming of Christ." 2 

In his " Second Epistle " Clement writes : " Let us every 
hour expect the kingdom of God in love and righteousness, 
because we know not the day of God's appearing." 3 

Chapters xxiii to xxxvii of the " First Epistle " contain 
constantly repeated exhortations in view of the expected 
return of the Lord, as noted in 32 b, note (q. v.). 

Clement was drowned in the sea in 100 a. d., under 
Trajan. 

41. Hermas, or Pastor Hermse, mentioned in 
Eomans xvi. 14, wrote " The Shepherd " about 100 
A. D. In 1859 Tischendorf found part of this book 
with the Sinaitic manuscript. 4 It has whole chapters 
in common with the "Didache" (33, 41). 5 Fisher 6 
and Kurtz 7 note in it the constant theme of the early 
return of Christ. Irenaeus, Clement and Origen be- 
lieved it was inspired ; the African Church in the 
third century included it in the New Testament 
canon ; in the early Church it was read in public wor- 
ship. 8 Hermas writes that in a vision he was told : 

"You have escaped from the great tribulation on ac- 
count of your faith, and because you did not doubt in the 
presence of the beast. . . . Go, therefore, and tell 
the elect of the Lord His mighty deeds, and say to them 
that this beast is a type of the great tribulation that is com- 

1 " Fathers," I, 1 1. * Oxford ed., " Epistles," p. 21. 

3 Oxford ed., " 2d Epis.," p. 357. See also Donaldson's " Apos. 
Fath.," pp. 143, 150, quoted in "J. W. and Pre," pp. 14, 15; also 
chiliasm of " Second Epistle " in S-H, VII, 375. 

* M, I, 670. s Fisher, " Hist. Doct," p. 47. 

« Ibid. 7 « Church Hist.," I, 138. 8 Ibid. 



60 THE LOKD'S KETUKN SEEN IN HISTOEY 



ing. If ye then prepare yourselves, and repent with all 
your heart, and turn to the Lord, it will be possible for 
you to escape it, if your heart be pure and spotless, and ye 
spend the rest of your life serving the Lord blamelessly." 1 
Notes: The "great tribulation " is an event yet future. 
Antichrist is seen. The thought of the speedy return of 
the Lord is a strong incentive to holiness. 

42. Ignatius of Antioch, disciple of John and 
Peter, ordained by the Apostles, was known also as 
Theophorus, meaning "one who has Christ in his 
heart." 2 He wrote letters to the early churches. 
He was thrown to the lions in A. D. 107. 3 He wrote 
to Polycarp, saying : 

" Be every day better than another ; consider the times, 
and expect Him who is above all time." 4 

To the Ephesians he wrote : " The last times are come 
upon us; let us therefore be very reverent and fear the 
long-suffering of God, that it be not to us condemnation." 5 

43. Polycarp (a. d. 69-155) died at the martyr's 
stake. He was a very holy man. It is believed that 
he is referred to in Eev. ii. 8-11. 6 His writings have 
perished, with the exception of one short treatise. 
Irenseus mentions him as teaching that the earth will 
be marvellously fertile and fruitful during the Mil- 
lennium, and that he was told this by John, who 
heard it from the Lord. 7 Polycarp confirms Papias. 

1 " Fathers," II, 18. 2 M, IV, 490. 3 Taylor, " Voice," p. 54. 
4 " Fathers," I, 94. « Taylor, " Voice," p. 53. 

6 Archb'p Usher and others, T, p. 54. 

7 "Adversus Haereses," Book iv, ch. 15; bk. v, ch. 35, Oxf., 
pp. 452-464. Burnet, Dufheld, Brooks and Ward mention him as 
pre (T, pp. 54, 55). See Donaldson's " Apos. Fath.," pp. 183, 192, 
382, quoted in "J. W. and Pre," p. 15 : "If we obey Christ, and 
please Him in this present age, we shall receive the age to come. 
He will raise us from the dead, and we shall live and reign with 
Him. The saints shall judge the world." 



APOSTOLIC FATHEES 61 

44. Papias (who died A. D. 165), Bishop of Hier- 
apolis, was a companion of Polycarp, and the most 
important witness to the authenticity of John's Gos- 
pel. About 116 a. d. he wrote "A Narrative of the 
Sayings of our Lord." In his preface he states that 
he "had the Apostles for his authors ; and that he 
considered what Andrew, what Peter said, what 
Philip, what Thomas, and other disciples of the 
Lord; as also what Aristion, and John the senior, 
disciples of the Lord, what they spoke ; and that he 
did not profit so much by reading books, as by the 
living voice of those persons which resounded from 
them." 1 Papias writes of millennial fruitage with 
great enthusiasm, becoming hyperbolical in his lan- 
guage. Some writers, taking his utterances as cold 
prose, have argued that grapes are not likely to grow 
as big as ships and that therefore the teachings of 
Papias are to be condemned. It may as reasonably 
be insisted that because John happened to remark 
that if the unrecorded things which Jesus did were 
written "the world itself could not contain the books" 
(John xxi. 25), therefore the writings of the Apostle 
John as contained in his Gospel should be condemned. 

A few sentences from Papias are here quoted : 

"When any one of the saints shall lay hold of a cluster, 
another shall cry out, < I am a better cluster, take me; 
bless the Lord through me.' " 2 (See 400 b.) 

"There will be a millennium after the resurrection from 
the dead, when the personal reign of Christ will be estab- 
lished on the earth." 3 

Papias quotes the sayings of the Lord concerning animal 
restoration from ferocity and the remarkable fertility of the 

1 Quoted by Taylor, pp. 55, 56. 8 "Fathers," I, 153. 

3 Ibid., p. 154. 



62 THE LORD'S RETURN SEEN IN HISTORY 



earth during the Millennium. When Judas asked how- 
such fertility should be brought about, Jesus answered, 
saying, " They shall see who come to those times." 1 

45. Six Thousand Years. In leaving the Apos- 
tolic Fathers we are impressed with their strong 
pre-millennial faith, and especially with the fact that 
they expected the return of the Lord in their day. 
And yet they believed that He is not to return until 
after six thousand years from Adam's creation, of 
which time in the Apostles' days not more than four 
thousand years seem to have expired. Explanation 
lies in the fact that according to their chronology the 
time had then almost expired. 

46. Theophilus of Antioch (A. D. 115-181), who 
succeeded Ignatius, was the first Christian historian 
of Old Testament annals. 

(1) According to Theophilus the expiration of 6,000 
years was comparatively near, and the Christians looked 
for the days to be shortened. Archbishop Usher pays 
tribute to Theophilus as a reckoner of chronology. 2 Even 
Hale reckons the time from Adam to Christ as 5,411 years. 5 

(2) As a result of the latest research, E. L. Curtis, 
professor of Hebrew in Yale, shows from Egyptian and 
Assyrian discoveries that the chronology of Archbishop 
Usher is incorrect.* Usher died in 1656. Chronologists 
now are completely at sea, but all evidence indicates that 
4,004 years from Creation to Christ fall far short of the 
real time that has elapsed. The discovery of the new 
"inscription of King Merenptah " shows that the exodus 
from Egypt should be assigned to an earlier period. 5 The 
dates on old coins recently discovered, together with numer- 
ous mute but impressive witnesses gathered by exploration 

1 " Euseb. Hist.," bk. in, ch. 39. 2 « Proleg. Annals," Paris, 1673. 

3 "Fath.," II, 30; Young, "Con.," p. 2IO. 

4 Hastings' " Diet. Bib.," p. 398. 5 Ibid., p. 399. 



APOSTOLIC FATHEES 



63 



parties not alone in the Old World but also in the New, 
combine their testimony in proving that even though this 
dispensation close with the expiration of six thousand years, 
no man can fix the time, no man knows the year, and no 
man can prove that the bells of the ages will not on the 
morrow be tolling the end. 

47. The Divine Source of the Doctrine. The 

Apostolic Fathers taught that the return of the Lord 
is pre-millennial. They believed the time was immi- 
nent because their Lord had taught them to live in a 
watchful attitude. Was not this faith, as Wesley 
remarks, ' ' the pure, uncorrupted doctrine of Christ " % 
Was it not what " His Apostles taught " 1 " What- 
ever is first," says Tertullian, "is true ; whatever is 
later is adulterate." 1 After the Day of Pentecost, 
after the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, the faith 
of the Church was solidly pre-millennial. What then 
shall we say of post-millennial doctrine f 

48. Faber's Rule. With another point in mind, 
George Stanley Faber says : 

" If a doctrine totally unknown to the primitive Church, 
which received her theology immediately from the hands 
of the Apostles, and which continued long to receive it 
from the hands of the disciples of the Apostles, springs up 
in a subsequent age, let that age be the fifth century, or let 
it be the tenth century, or let it be the sixteenth century, 
such doctrine stands on its very front impressed with the 
brand of mere human invention." 2 

According to the above rule by Faber, the "new 
hypothesis " of Daniel Whitby, springing up in the 
seventeenth century, is a "mere human invention." 
The real foundation of post-millennial doctrine was 

51 Quoted by Taylor, " Voice," p. 1 10. 

2 " Primitive Doct. of Election," p. 158; Taylor, "Voice," p. ill. 



64 THE LORD'S RETURN SEEN IK HISTORY 



laid by the Roman Catholic Church, but it was in 
direct opposition to the faith which inspired Apostles 
delivered unto the saints (32-34). 

We are ready now to take up the writings of the 
early Fathers after the " Apostolic Fathers," and 
before the council of Nice. 

ANTE-NICENE FATHERS 
"Which we have heard " (1 John i. 1). 

49. The Ante-Nicene Fathers are those whose 
writings date before the Council of Nice, A. D. 325. 
They succeed the Apostolic Fathers. By tradition 
they knew the faith of the Apostles. They taught 
the doctrine of the imminent and pre- millennial re- 
turn of the Lord. We shall examine their writings. 

50. Justin Martyr, born in Neapolis, Palestine, 
A. D. 89, contemporary with Papias, Polycarp and 
Irenseus, wrote between 140-160 A. D. He was mar- 
tyred in 163 (see 190). 1 He writes : 

"I, and as many as are orthodox Christians, do ac- 
knowledge that there shall be a resurrection of the body, 
and a residence of a thousand years in Jerusalem, adorned 
and enlarged, as the prophets Ezekiel, Isaiah, and others 
do unanimously attest." 2 

51. Irenaeus, whom Theodoret calls " The Light of 
the Western Church/ ' was Bishop of Lyons (in 
Gaul, now France), and defender of the Montanists 
(58-62) who went to Gaul in great numbers. 3 He 
was born in Asia Minor. He remembered well the 

1 See Justin's doctrines in Elliott, IV, 277, 278, and T, pp. 57-60. 

2 From Hartley, Wesley and others. Scribners' " Fathers," I, 239 
gives latest translation. 

3 M, IV, 647. 



ANTE-NICENE FATHEBS 



65 



oral discourses of Polycarp in which that martyr re- 
lated what he had learned from conversations with 
the Apostle John who leaned on the Saviour's 
breast. 1 It is of interest, therefore, to hear what 
Irenseus has to say : 

(a) " For in as many days as this world was made, in 
so many thousand years will it be concluded. . . . 
This is an account of things formerly created, as also it is 
a prophecy of that which is to come. (He quotes Gen. 
ii. 2 in the Hebrew text.) For as the day of the Lord is 
as a thousand years (2 Pet. iii. 8 in Sinaitic), and in six 
days created things were completed, it is evident, there- 
fore, that they will come to an end at the six thousandth 
year." — " Fathers" /, 557, and see p. 562. 

(b) "But when this Antichrist shall have devastated 
all things in this world, he will reign for three years and 
six months, and sit in the temple at Jerusalem ; and then 
shall the Lord come from heaven in clouds, in the glory 
of the Father, sending this man, and those who follow him, 
into the lake of fire ; but bringing for the righteous the 
times of the kingdom, that is, the rest, the hallowed 
seventh day ; and restoring to Abraham the promised in- 
heritance, in which kingdom the Lord declared that 
' many coming from the east and from the west should sit 
down with Abraham, and Isaac and Jacob'" (Matt, 
viii. 11). — Ibid., I, 560. 

(c) " And therefore, when in the end the Church shall 
suddenly be caught up from this, it is said, ' There shall 
be tribulation such as has not been since the beginning, 
neither shall be ' " (Matt. xxiv. 41). — Ibid., I, 560. 

(d) " It behooves the righteous first to receive the 
promise of the inheritance, and to reign in it, when they 
rise again to behold God in this creation which is renovated, 
and that the judgment should take place afterwards. For 
it is just that in that very creation in which they toiled or 
were afflicted, being proved in every way by suffering, 
they should receive the reward of the suffering ; and that 



1 M, IV, 647. 



66 THE LOKD'S EETUEN SEEN IN HISTOEY 



in the creation in which they were slain because of their 
love for God, in that they shall be revived again ; and that 
in the creation in which they endured servitude, in that 
they shall reign." — Ibid., I, j6i. 

Irenseus writes "of the times of the kingdom, when the 
righteous shall bear rule upon their rising from the dead." 
—Ibid., J62. 1 

52. Tertullian, whom Wesley calls "one of the 
most eminent Christians of that age, 3 was born at 
Carthage, Africa, A. D. 160, and died in A. d. 240. 
He writes : 

(a) " We do confess that a kingdom is promised to us 
on earth, although before heaven, only in another state of 
existence ; inasmuch as it will be after the resurrection for 
a thousand years in the divinely rebuilt city of Jerusalem. 

(b) " After its one thousand years are over, within 
which period is completed the resurrection of the saints, 
who rise sooner or later according to their deserts, there 
will ensue the destruction of the world and the conflagra- 
tion of all things at the judgment." 

(c) On " the first resurrection " he writes : " It is 
proved to be a bodily one, because there is no spiritual one 
then also announced. . . . It is therefore more com- 
petent for us even to maintain a spiritual resurrection at 
the commencement of a life of faith." 3 — Elliott, IV, 
279-282. 

53. Tatian, 4 Melito, 5 Clemens Alexandrinus, 6 

1 See Elliott's abstract, « Horse Apoc," IV, 282-285. 

3 " Sermons," II, 63. 3 " Fathers," III, 342, 343, 563. 

4 Tatian, Assyrian Christian, disciple of Justin, died a. d. 176. 

6 Melito, Bishop of Sardis, to whom Rev. iii. 1-6 is thought by 
some to have been addressed, died about 170 A. D. His writings are 
lost, but Guennadius and Jerome say he was pre (" De Dogm. 
Eccl.," ch. 52 ; T, p. 66 ; M, VI, 64). He " had his whole con- 
versation in the Holy Ghost." 

6 Clemens Alex. (a. d. 160-217), contemporary with Justin 
Martyr, believed that Christ will come with judgments and introduce 
the Millen. reign of a thousand years (Seiss, " L. T.," p. 387). 



ANTE-NICEKE FATHEES 67 



Hippolytus, 1 Victorinus, 2 Methodius, 3 Nepos, 4 and 
others whose writings might be quoted in support of 
those here introduced, we shall have to pass with no 
further notice than that of favourable mention, 5 
However, there are a few others from whom we shall 
hear. 

54. Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, which was his 
birthplace, nourished as a writer A. D, 220-250, and 
was martyred in 258. He says : 

(a) " Whatever things were predicted are fulfilled, and 
the end of the world is approaching. . . . The world 
is old, and decaying." — " Fathers" V, 426, 438. 

(b) On Rev. xx. 4, 5. " All live and reign with 
Christ, not only those who have been slain ; but even who- 
soever, standing in firmness of faith, have not worshipped 
the image of the beast, and have not consented to his 
deadly and sacrilegious edicts." — Ibid., p. 506. 

(c) "It were a self-contradictory and incompatible 
thing for us, who pray that the kingdom of God may 
quickly come, to be looking for a long life here below. 
. . . Let us ever in anxiety and cautiousness be wait- 

1 Hippolytus, disciple of Irenseus, flourished about 222 A. D., and 
died 230 A. D. ; was a Greek master. He was martyred in the 
Tiber, sinking with a stone tied to his neck (M, III, 268). He was 
pre (Professor Jacobi, Luth. Qr. Rev. y Oct., 185 1); taught that 
Enoch and Elijah are the " two witnesses " of Rev. xi. (" Fath.," V, 
182); traced world empire to Antichrist which is destroyed by 
Christ's coming (" Fath.," V, 178-219). See El., IV, 282-285. 

2 Victorinus, Bishop of Pettau, d. 303 A. D. Pre (Jerome, " Biblio. 
Patrum Max.," Ill, 414 ; El., IV, 286). His writings were corrupted 
by Jerome, which the latter admitted. 

3 Methodius, Bishop of Tyre, d. 31 1 A. D. Pre (" Fath.," VI, 344) ; 
also Elliott " Horae Apoc," abstract, IV, 295-296 and T, p. 74. 

4 Nepos, Egyptian bishop, 3d century; pre (Cave, Whitby, 
Mosheim in Seiss, " L. T.," p. 394 ; T, pp. 74, 75). Sulpicius 
Severus was also a distinguished Chiliast (" Ency. Brit.," XVIII, 
463, ed. 11). 

5 In a few instances all the writings of some of the persons men- 
tioned have perished, and we must rely upon the testimonies of 
others. What might be quoted would be repetition. 



68 THE LQKD'S BETURN SEEN IN HISTORY 



ing the second advent of the Lord, for as those things 
which were foretold are come to pass, so those things will 
follow which are yet promised ; the Lord Himself giving 
assurance and saying, 'When you see all these things 
come to pass, know that the kingdom of God is nigh 
at hand ' " (Luke xxi. 31). 1 

Cyprian's description of millennial glories is sublime. 2 

55. Commodianus, a Christian historian, wrote 
about 250 A. d. He was a teacher of holiness 3 and 
an ardent Chiliast. Looking to the return of Christ, 
he observes : 

(a) " We shall rise again, who have been devoted to 
Him. . . . They shall come also who overcame 
martyrdom under Antichrist, and they themselves live for 
the whole time." 

(b) Mentioning certain evils, he says: "But from the 
thousand years God will destroy all those evils." 

(c) Again he remarks : " The heaven in the meantime 
is changed with an altered course, for then the wicked are 
burnt up with divine fire." 

(d) After the Millennium: "They who make God of 
no account when the thousandth year is finished, shall 
perish by fire." * 

56. Lactantius, "the most learned of the Latin 
Fathers," called the "Christian Cicero," was the 
instructor of Crispus, son of Constantine. He wrote 
about 300 A. D. , died about 330, and is the last wit- 
ness we shall summon. He testifies : 

(a) "As God laboured during these six days in creat- 
ing such great works, so His religion and truth must 
labour during these six thousand years, while wickedness 
prevails and bears rule. And again, since God, having 
finished His works, rested on the seventh day and blessed 

1 Oxf. ed. " Fathers," Cyp., 149, 217. 

2 Scrib. " Fath.," V, 585. 

3 M, II, 437. 4 " Fathers," IV, 201, 212, 218. 



ANTE-NICENE FATHEES 69 



it, at the end of six thousand years all the wickedness must 
be abolished from the earth, and righteousness reign for a 
thousand years ; there must be tranquillity and rest from 
the labours which the world has so long endured." 1 

(b) "It is so arranged by God that the same Christ 
should come twice to earth, once to announce to the 
nations the one God, then again to reign." 2 

(c) "Then the heaven shall be opened in a tempest, 
and Christ shall descend with great power, and there shall 
go before Him a fiery brightness and a countless host of 
angels, and all that multitude of the wicked shall be des- 
troyed, and torrents of blood shall flow." 3 

(d) " But the nations shall not be entirely extinguished, 
but some shall be left as a victory for God. . . . 
About the same time also the prince of the devils, who is 
the contriver of all evils, shall be bound with chains and 
shall be imprisoned during the thousand years of the 
heavenly rule of righteousness which shall reign in the 
world. . . . They who shall be raised from the dead 
shall preside over the living as judges. . . . But He, 
when He shall have destroyed unrighteousness, and ex- 
ecuted His great judgment, and shall have recalled to life 
the righteous who have lived from the beginning, will be 
engaged among men for a thousand years, and will rule 
them with just command. . . . Throughout this time 
the beasts shall not be nourished by blood, nor birds by 
prey." 4 

(e) "The King and Conqueror . . . will Himself 
reign with them (the saints) on the earth, and will build 
the holy city, and this kingdom of the righteous shall be 
for a thousand years. . . . The earth shall bring 
forth all her fruit without the labour of men. . . . 
The beasts shall lay aside their ferocity and become mild. 
. . . The serpent shall have no poison; no animal 
shall live by bloodshed." 5 

1 " Fathers," I, 21 1. 2 Ibid., p. III. 

3 Ibid., p. 254. 4 Ibid., p. 219. 

h Ibid., p. 254. On Lactantius read M, V, 186-189; his doctrines, 
Elliott, IV, 296-299 ; other pre quotations are seen in " J. W. and 
Pre," pp. 1 6, 17. 



70 THE LOED'S EETUEN SEEN IN HISTOEY 



57. This was the Faith of the Early Fathers. 
The stream of Christian doctrine, where it issues from 
the fountain, is Chiliastic. 

VI. — THE MONTANISTS 
" Waiting for the coining of our Lord Jesus Christ " (1 Coe. i. 7). 

After parting with the Early Fathers, and before 
reaching the Council of Nice, we encounter two in- 
teresting bodies of holy people whom it is a pleasure 
to introduce. They are the Montanists and the 
Novatians. 

58. The Montanists arose in Asia Minor in the 
latter part of the second century. They were emi- 
nently spiritual people. They were ardent Chili- 
asts ; cruelly persecuted ; became a separate sect in 
the third century ; were finally expelled by Eome. 

59. Their Chiliasm. The Montanists were dis- 
tinguished by their expectation of "the speedy com- 
ing of the Lord, > 1 with "awful judgments from 
heaven." 1 They were branded as prophets of doom. 
They believed that Christ will come and reign per- 
sonally during the Millennium. 

"The Montanists lived under a vivid impression of the 
great final catastrophe, and looked therefore with contempt 
upon this present world, and directed all their desires to 
the second advent of Christ, which they believed to be 
near at hand." 2 

60. Their Character. They insist upon heart 
regeneration, followed by heart purity with the 
baptism of the Holy Ghost, which they profess to 
enjoy. They teach Christian perfection ; strive to 

1 Blackburn, « Ch. Hist.," p. 45. 2 M, VI, 528. 



THE MONTAETCSTS 



71 



maintain a pure and spotless Church ; fast frequently ; 
pray much ; testify with joy and ecstasy ; give free- 
dom to the motion of the Holy Spirit ; and actually 
shout. They believe that the call to preach must 
come from God. They prohibit all ornamental 
clothing and forbid the appearance of their women 
in immodest attire which they regard as a snare be- 
fore men. 1 

Professor Kurtz, the eminent German historian, writes 
of Montanism: "Against what seemed the excessive 
secularization of the Church it presented a model of 
church disciple such as the nearness of the Lord's coming 
demanded." 2 

Wesley pays this tribute : " Montanus was not only a 
truly good man, but one of the best men then upon 
earth." 3 And again he declares that " the Montanists, in 
the second and third centuries, were real scriptural Chris- 
tians."* 

Harnack, according to Bishop Hurst, "shows how 
Montanus stood by the old paths as against the Catholic 
hierarchical tendency." 5 

6i. Their Dispersion as Heretics. Some histori- 
ans, obtaining information from hostile sources, have 
misrepresented the Montanists. Eome always stands 
ready and eager to supply free literature. Kurtz 
and others note that the Montanists were finally ex- 
pelled from the Eoman Catholic Church, and multi- 
tudes emigrated to Gaul. 6 They passed through the 
Cottian Alps, where many lingered. Others wandered 

1 M, II, 326 ; VI, 526-528. 2 « Church Hist.," I, 226. 

3 "Works," Lond., ed. 5, XI, 485, 486; Hurst, " Ch. Hist.," I, 
239, 240. 

4 Moore, "Life of Wesley," N. Y., 1825, II, 127. 

5 Hurst, " Ch. Hist.," I, 239, note. 
« Kurtz, " Ch. Hist.," I, 226, 227. 



72 THE LOKD'S KETUBN SEEN IN HISTORY 



in Southern France 1 and many settled at Lyons. 2 
And what was their heresy ? 

Wesley remarks : " As to the heresies fathered upon 
Montanus, it is not easy to find what they were. 1 believe 
his grand heresy was the maintaining that * without ' in- 
ward and outward 'holiness, no man shall see the Lord ' " 
(Rom. xii. 14). 

With the cruel persecution and wide dispersion of 
the Montanists the fire was scattered and the truth 
was spread. 

62. Leading authorities trace the faith of the 
Montanists down through the centuries until com- 
paratively recent times. It is seen in Novatianism 3 
and the Cathari, 4 in Donatism, 5 among the Paulicians 
and the Waldenses, 6 in Joachim the abbot of Floris, 7 
in the Franciscan Spirituals, 8 in Anabaptism, 9 among 
the Camisards, 10 in Puritanism," and in George Fox 12 

1 Then known as Gaul. 

2 Dispersed by pagan persecution, Montanists were numerous in 
Gaul long before the time of their excommunication by Rome. 
Irenseus (51), when presbyter at Lyons (176-192), went to 
Eleutherus, Bishop of Rome, as a mediator in behalf of the Montan- 
ists, whose Chiliasm he championed (Schaff, " Ch. Hist.," I, 489, 
quoted in M, IV, 647). Tertullian (52) and Hippolytus (53), the 
former of whom was a member, were strong defenders. They 
flourish as a sect until 600 A. D. (M, VI, 527), and multitudes de- 
scend to the great Reformation. They are blended with other 
dissenters who continue from primitive days. 

'M, VI, 530; Hurst, « Ch. Hist.," I, 239. 

4 Blackburn, " Ch. Hist.," p. 332 ; and 112. 

5 M, VI, 530 ; Hurst, " Ch. Hist," I, 239. 

6 See sketches in this book (95-112). 
?M, VI, 526 ; and 124. 

8 Hurst, " Ch. Hist.," I, 239 ; and 126. 

9 M, VI, 530; Hurst, Ibid. (138). 

10 M, Ibid., Hurst, Ibid. ; and 140. 

11 M, VI, 530 ; Hurst, Ibid. (149). 

12 Fox, Eng., 1624-1691, founder of Quakers (M, VI, 526). 



THE NOVATIANS 



73 



and Eobert Barclay 1 and Quakerism 2 generally, among 
the Mystic Quietists, 3 in Pietism, 4 in Irvingism, 5 in 
orthodox Second Adventism, 6 and among the leading 
missionaries and holiness evangelists of the world. 7 

VII. — NOVATIAN AND HIS PURITAN CHURCHES 

"Our conversation is in heaven, from whence also we look for 
the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ " (Phil. iii. 20). 

63. Novatian, a Gentile native of Phrygia, the 
home of Montanism, flourished in the third century 
as one of its most distinguished characters. His 
learning was extensive. He was a heavenly-minded 
man. He was a Chiliast. 8 As presbyter of the 
Church at Eome he contended for purity of life ; 
denounced corruption in the Church j urged men to 
weep, pray, repent and turn from sin ; held that 
God, not the visible Church, has power to forgive 
sins ; taught that the true Church is composed only 
of innocent and holy people. He was bitterly per- 
secuted by Cornelius, and he and all his adherents 
were condemned and excluded from the Church of 
Eome. Great numbers of the most spiritual people 
followed him. u All over the empire Puritan 
churches were constituted, and flourished through 
the succeeding two hundred years. Afterwards, 
when penal laws obliged them to lurk in corners and 

1 Barclay, Scot., 1648-1690, eminent and highly educated 
Quaker, appointed as governor of New Jersey colony, America, and 
delegating the active work to another (M, VI, 526; M, I, 663-665). 

2 Hurst, « Ch. Hist," I, 239 (158, 159). 

8 Ibid., and 152-156. 4 M, VI, 530; Hurst, Ibid. (157). 

5 Ibid. (163). e Hurst, Ibid. ( 1 65 ) . ' See 292-308. 

8 Cf. note (1) and (2), and Cathari, 110-112; also his doc- 
trines. Novatian is not Novatus, as some have erroneously inferred. 



74 THE LOED'S EETUEN SEEN IN HISTOEY 



worship God in private, they were distinguished by 
a variety of names, and a succession of them con- 
tinued till the Eeformation. " 1 

Constantine favoured the Novatians in 326, but 
condemned and banished them in 331, and confiscated 
all their churches. 2 They were known everywhere 
as "Cathari." 3 

64. The Montanists and the Cathari comprise the 
great body of orthodox and holy people at the time 
of the Council of Nice, 325 A. D., which we now 
approach. Opposition to Chiliasm will be found to 
have arisen before this date, but the early faith de- 
livered unto the saints remains in the ascendency. 
"It was a pre-millennial Church that overthrew 
paganism and the Eoman empire, and won victories 
in lands where Caesar's eagles never flew. It was 
missionary to the core.' ' * Neander observes that "it 
was a solace and support to the Christians to antici- 
pate that even here, on earth, the scene of their 
sufferings, the Church was destined to triumph in its 
perfected and glorified state. " 5 

VIII.— THE COUNCIL OF NICE, A. Do 325, WAS 
PRE-MILLENNIAL 

"Earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto 
the saints" (Jude 3). 

65. The Council of Nice, which was called to- 
gether by Constantine the Great, proved that Chiliasm 

1 M, VII, 210 ; read M, VII, 208-213. 2 m, VII, 213. 

3 So designated by the first Council of Nice, 325 A. D. ; by St. Basil 
(328-373) ; and by the Council of Laodicea in 367 A. D. (M, VII, 213). 

4 Nathaniel West, " J. W. and Pre," p. 46. 

5 " History Christian Religion," I, 650, quoted in " J. W. and Pre," 
p. 46. 



COUNCIL OF NICE 



75 



was then the faith of the Christian Chnrch. Numer- 
ous sects which were more or less unorthodox on 
some other points were found to agree on the doctrine 
of the Lord's return. They were chiliastic. 1 Joseph 
Mede, 2 quoting from "The Acts of the Council of 
Nice," by Gelassius Cyzicenus, shows that the Scrip- 
tures were understood to teach that the saints are to 
receive their reward under the reign of Christ on 
earth. Thomas Hartley 3 gives ample proof that 
Chiliasm received the sanction of the Council of Nice 
in 325 A. d. Nathaniel West gives specific citations 
showing that " this was the faith of the Nicene Coun- 
cil, A. d. 325, which quoted our Lord's 4 Third Beati- 
tude' in its support "* (217). Daniel Whitby, the 
father of modern post-millennialism, concedes that 
Chiliasm was received by this famous Council. He 
admits that 

" It was received not only in the eastern parts of the 
Church by Papias (in Phrygia), Justin (in Palestine), 
Irenaeus (in Gaul), Nepos (in Egypt), Apollonarius, Me- 
thodius, but also in the west and south, by Tertullian (in 
Africa), Cyprian, Victorinus (in Germany), Lactantius 
(in Italy), and Severus, and by the first Nicene Council." 5 

The above acknowledgment by Whitby is regarded 
by the London Quarterly Journal of Prophecy as "an 
irresistible^ testimony." 6 The early Church was pre- 
millennial until after the first Council of Nice in 

1 The Cerinthians, Marcionites, Melitians (" Ency. Diet.," p. 3134), 
the Ebionites (Schaff-Herzog, VII, 375) and others, were pre. 

2 Mede's " Works," p. 813. 

3 " Paradise Restored," pp. 225, 226. 

4 " J. W. and Pre," p. 19, quoting from " Hist. Acts Coun. Nice," 
II, ch. 29. 

5 Taylor, " Voice," p. 228, quoting from " Treatise on Traditions." 

6 April, 1850. 



76 THE LOKD'S RETURN SEEN IX HISTOEY 



325 A. D. After observing the effect of this faith on 
the spirit and life of the early Christians, we shall 
inquire into the ways and means by which it was 
assailed, and ascertain the manner in which it was 
overthrown. 

IX.— THE SALUTARY EFFECT OF THE 
PRIMITIVE FAITH 

" Be ye also ready " (Matt. xxiv. 44). 

66. What was the Effect of Pre-Millennial Faith 
on the Spirit and Life of the Primitive Church ? 

They were a poor and persecuted people, but they 
were deeply spiritual. We know that they looked 
towards heaven and longed for the Lord's return. 
Harnack says : 

" This expectation was a prominent feature in the earliest 
proclamation of the Gospel, and materially contributed to 
its success. The claims of Chiliasm are sufficiently met 
by the acknowledgment that in former times it was asso- 
ciated — to all appearances inseparably associated — with 
the Gospel itself. " 1 

Neander, the ecclesiastical historian and Berlin 
University professor, remarks : 

"They imagined the happiness of this period, in a 
spiritual manner, and one that corresponded well with the 
real nature of Christianity." 2 

And Gibbon, the great historian, writes : 

"It was productive of the most salutary effect upon the 
faith and practice of Christians." 3 

1 « Ency. Brit.," XVI, 318, ed. 9. 
*«Ch. Hist.," I, 404; T, p. 105. 
8 Milman's "Rome," I, 262; T, p. 115. 



EFFECT OF THE PRIMITIVE FAITH 77 



Of this doctrine Prof. George Bush notes that " the 
belief of it was calculated to produce, and did pro- 
duce, results of a most auspicious character." 1 And 
John F. Pollock in a magazine article admits that 
u pessimism is as free from the life and teachings 
of the early Church as from the thoughts and feelings 
of a healthy man." 2 The early Church was remark- 
able for its fervent piety and relentless missionary 
activity. On the other hand "the abatement of 
faith in the near approach of the Lord was certainly 
accompanied with an increase of worldliness in the 
Catholic Church." 3 This blessed hope was purify- 
ing, ennobling, sustaining, inspiring. 

1 « Millen.," ch. I, 2; T, p. 103. 

2 Post art., Lutk. Quar. Review, XXVI, 21. 

a M, VI, 528. 



SECTION III. —THE BOM AN CATHOLIC 
CHURCH INVENTS THE POST -MILLEN- 
NIAL SYSTEM AND BURIES THE FAITH 
OF THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH 

X.— THE TROUBLESOME BOOK OF REVELATION 
REJECTED 

"Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book " (Rev. xxii. 10). 

Haying traced the primitive faith to the Council 
of Nice in A. d. 325, and having found that it was 
endorsed by that august body, it is in order now to 
go back and observe the opposition which arose 
against the hope of the saints and to follow this 
opposition until it culminates in the imperious sway 
of Roman Catholicism. 

67. The Apocalypse. The doctrine was not 
founded upon the Book of Revelation. It was based 
upon Old Testament prophecies. But the Book of 
Revelation came as a sudden, divine and conclusive 
witness of the truth of the doctrine of Christian 
Chiliasm, and the belief of the Church as to the 
length of the period was positively confirmed by the 
Apocalypse. The Book of Revelation was rejected 
by those who led the assault against Chiliasm. 
" Chiliasm and the Apocalypse were deemed in- 
separable. They could only get rid of the former by 
rejecting the latter. They never thought it possible 
to deny that the Apocalypse taught Chiliasm." 1 

1 H. Bonar on Rev. xx., quoted in Taylor's " Voice," p. 1 14. 

78 



THE KEVELATION EEJECTED 79 



68. The Alogi, a small Asiatic sect which opposed 
Montanism (58-61), rejected the Gospel and the 
Epistles of St. John, as well as the Apocalypse. 1 

69. Caius of Rome is, according to Mosheim, 2 the 
first opponent of Chiliasm to appear on the horizon 
of history. Mede regards him as * 1 one of the heretics 
called Alogi," 3 who wrote against the Montanists 
about the year 200 A. d. He rejected the Book of 
Bevelation,* which he regarded as a collection of 
" monstrous stories," of u gross sensualism," teach- 
ing a " carnal millennium." 5 If such epithets are 
not blasphemies against the Holy Ghost who inspired 
the writing of the Apocalypse, they are at least a 
serious libel against St. John the divine. It is chari- 
table to conclude that Caius believed the Apocalypse 
to be a spurious production. 

70. Origen (316) conceives a new idea. He makes 
John a pedantic scribe, writing mythology, and re- 
ducing the Apocalypse into bombastic and meaning- 
less poetry. Origen was born A. D. 185 and flourished 
during the first half of the third century. As an in- 
terpreter his reputation is the lowest. 6 

" It was not until the Church had learned to Platonize, 
or had taken lessons in the school of Origen," says Hora- 
tius Bonar, "that they could condemn Chiliasm without 
disputing the inspiration of the Revelation." 7 

71. Dionysius of Alexandria, a disciple of Origen, 

^'Cath. Ency.," X, 308; Cambridge Bible, "Intro. Rev.," p. 16. 
2 Taylor, " Voice," p. 71. 3 Ibid. 

4 « UEP Ency.," art. « Millen." ; Pope, " Theology," III, 396. 

5 So Burnet, M. Stuart, in Taylor's "Voice," p. 71. 

6 So Hagenbach, A. Clarke, Mosheim, Duffield, Milner, Saurin, 
Luther and others quoted in T, pp. 77-80. 

7 Quoted in T, p. 1 14. 



80 THE LORD'S RETURN SEEN IN HISTORY 



writing about a. D. 250, prepared the way for the final 
rejection of the Apocalypse. Nepos, an eminent and 
very spiritual Egyptian bishop, wrote a renowned 
work on Chiliasni as a Bible doctrine. 1 It was en- 
titled, " A Confutation of the Allegorists," and was 
regarded as " incontrovertible." No one could resist 
the strength of its teachings. What can be done? 
The work of Nepos was destroyed and the Book of 
Revelation rejected. 

(a) Dionysius complained that too much attention was 
given to Nepos. The pious author of the book soon passed 
to his reward. After the death of Nepos, Dionysius as- 
sembled a body of men who were antichiliastic in their 
views. They sat three days, condemned the " Confuta- 
tion," and assailed Chiliasm. But the doctrine continued 
to flourish. 

(b) Dionysius then wrote against Chiliasm, devoting 
his whole time and energy against the doctrine. 

fc) He had accepted the Apocalypse as an inspired 
production, but in his desperation he now rejects it. Albert 
Barnes remarks that the objections "were wholly on in- 
ternal grounds, and were mainly derived from the fact that 
it was supposed to countenance the doctrine of Chiliasm." 
After citing Lardner and Stuart to show that Dionysius 
had accepted the Apocalypse, Barnes admits that " the 
authority of the Apocalypse itself was called in question by 
Dionysius, on the grounds referred to above." 2 That he 
positively denied the apostolicity of the Book of Revelation 
is asserted by many authorities. 3 It was in this way, says 
Gieseler, that Dionysius "succeeded in expelling Chiliasm 
from the Eastern Church." 4 

72. The Council of Laodicea, in 360 a. d., ex- 

1 M, VI, 948, giving full account. 2 " Notes, Rev.," p. 21. 

3 Pope, « Ch'n Theol.," Ill, 396. Harnack, " Ency. Brit.," XVI, 
316, ed. 9. 
4 " Eccl. Hist.," I, 62. 



CONSTANTINE 



81 



eluded Kevelation from the Bible. 1 "The Greek 
Church was saturated with prejudice against the 
Apocalypse." 2 " In the course of the fourth century 
it was removed from the Greek canon, and thus the 
troublesome foundation on which Chiliasm might 
have continued to build was got rid of. . . . For 
many centuries the Greek Church kept the Apoca- 
lypse out of its canon." 3 

The sayings of this book were sealed. John's last 
message was refused. 

XL— THE RISE AND REIGN OF CONSTANTINE 

"I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of noth- 
ing " (Rev. iii.17). 

73. Constantine, 272-337 A. D., ended the early 
persecutions, became emperor of the entire Eoman 
empire, and united Church and State. This was 
fortunate, protecting life and establishing Christi- 
anity ; and it was unfortunate, making the State the 
pilot of the Church and steering it into the dark sea 
of apostasy. 

Under Constantine the Council of Nice convened 
in a. d. 325. Christianity was proclaimed as the 
State religion. Chiliasm was in the Nicene Creed 
(65). Crispus, son of Constantine, was taught the 
doctrine by Lactantius (56). While we should never 
cease to be grateful to Constantine for his influence in 
terminating the early persecutions, we must ever la- 

1 Gibbon, "Rome," I, 548, Collier ed., N. Y., 1900; John F. 
Pollock (post), Luih. Quar., XXVI, 22. 

2 « Ency. Biblica.," Ill, 3097. 

3 " Ency. Brit.," XVI, 316, ed. 9; « Ency. Biblica.," Ill, 3097. 



82 THE LOED'S EETUEN SEEN IN HISTOEY 



ment the dark turn in ecclesiastical history which is 
found in the wake of his rise to power. 

74. Christianity and the World are United. 
Constantine was deified. The combined tribute of 
the civil and religious world was laid at his feet. 
But the Council of Nice dates the commencement of 
the general decline of vital piety. It recognized the 
higher authority of the metropolitan bishops of 
Eome, Antioch and Alexandria. 1 It gave its sanc- 
tion to Eomanism. 

" The simplicity of the Gospel was corrupted ; pompous 
rites and ceremonies were introduced ; worldly honours 
and emoluments were conferred upon the teachers of 
Christianity, and the kingdom of Christ in a great measure 
converted into a kingdom of this world." 2 

The very people who gave their endorsement to 
Chiliasm were destined soon to become its relentless 
opponents. 

75. The Character of Constantine. For eight- 
een years Constantine had fought to gain supremacy, 
and in his battle he crushed every rival. He was a 
great politician, playing for the patronage of all 
parties. He was half Christian and half pagan. He 
served Christianity to make Christianity serve him. 
He called himself Pontifex Maximus. Myers admits 
that "in his domestic relations he was tyrannical 
and cruel." 3 He put his own son Crispus to death 
without just cause, 4 and ordered the execution of his 
second wife Fausta. 5 He was baptized as a Christian 
" only a week before his death." 6 Some declare that 



1 M, IX, 73. 2 M, II, 488. 

3 " Gen. Hist.," p. 333, ed. 1893. *" Univ. Cycle," III, 150. 
5 Kurtz, I, 237. 6 " Univ. Cycle," III, 150. 



THE CEEED COKEUPTED 83 



he was then genuinely converted to God, and we hope 
they are correct. 

76. The Influence of Constantine. Seiss declares 
that the changes wrought by Constantine were rather 
a burial of true Christianity than a resurrection of it, 
as some have alleged. 1 Much similar testimony 
might be adduced. 

John Wesley says : 

" I have long been convinced, from the whole tenor of 
ancient history, that this very event, Constantine's calling 
himself a Christian, and pouring a flood of wealth and 
honour upon the Christian Church, the clergy in particular, 
was productive of more evil to the Church than all the ten 
persecutions put together." 2 

XII.— THE CATHOLIC CHURCH CORRUPTS 
THE NICENE CREED 

" Another gospel " (2 Cor. xi. 4). 

77. Fraud. The creed of the Apostles has been 
corrupted (34, 35). The Book of Revelation is re- 
jected (67-72). Chiliasm must not remain in the 
Nicene Creed. The Eoman Catholic Church reached 
a position of preeminence and branded Chiliasm as 
heresy, but she was unable to prevail against the 
doctrine in 325 at the Council of Mce. However, 
" the canons of the Council of Mce were forged at 
Eome in the interests of the papacy at an early 
period." 3 In 343 A. D. the Synod of Sardica con- 
ceded supremacy to the bishop of Rome, and framed 
its canons to harmonize with Romish dogma. " The 

1 " Last Times,'' p. 94, ed. 7. 

2 " Sermons," II, 361 ; see pp. 63, 83, 97. 3 M, VII, 628. 



84 THE LOKD'S KETURN SEEN IN HISTOEY 



fraudulent habit of ascribing the canons of the Synod 
of Sardica to the first ecumenical Council of Nice be- 
came quite general in Borne." 1 



XIII. — CHARACTER AND INFLUENCE OF 
JEROME 

" A wicked counsellor " (Nahum i. 11). 

78. Jerome, 345-420, born of wealth, noted for 
learning, translator of the Scriptures into the Latin 
Yulgate, was the sworn enemy of Chiliasm, being 
"one of the most resolute enemies of the doctrine 
that ever wrote. 7 ' 2 

79. Character of Jerome. It is natural to hesitate 
before beginning to sketch his character, but let the 
truth be known. 

Schatf says he had few friends, but was very highly 
esteemed by the Catholic Church. 3 

H. D. Ward says Jerome was " an unmerciful scoffer, not 
always regarding fairness." 4 The learned Mede agrees 
that he misrepresented his opponents, 5 and Burnet calls 
him an " unfair adversary." 6 Eadie observes in him " a 
hot and hasty disposition which so resented every opposi- 
tion and magnified trifles, that, in his towering passions, 
he heaped upon opponents opprobrious epithets and coarse 
invectives." 7 Kurtz remarks that " in polemics his style 
is coarse even to vulgarity." 8 Neander sees in Jerome 
" pride, vanity, love of controversy, a ruling spirit, mean 
passions, great defects of character." 9 Professor Wor- 
man, Drew Librarian, styles him " a Church Father of 

» M, VII, 629. 

2 Taylor, " Voice," p. 95, quoting Lond. Journal of Prophecy. 

3 "Ch. Hist.," Ill, 987, old ed. 4 Taylor, "Voice," p. 95. 
6 Ibid. 6 Ibid. 7 Appleton's " Biog. Cyclo." 
e " Ch. Hist.," I, 300. « M, IV, 831. 



JEEOME 



85 



rather doubtful character," 1 and Mosheim portrays in him 
a " miserable character." 2 

Jerome was a monastic. " His converts for the mo- 
nastic life were, however, mainly of the female sex. 3 
From the " Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge " Taylor 
finds that " many fashionable ladies became nuns by the 
persuasions of Jerome," and entered convents which he 
established.* Professor Kurtz declares that Jerome " fell 
into sensual excesses," and " his influence with women 
drew upon him the hatred of many prominent families." 5 

80. Methods and Policies as a Roman Catholic. 
Jerome became secretary to Pope Damasus whose 
election, being contested, was emphasized by the 
murder of many people. 6 Chiliasm can no longer be 
tolerated. Damasus issued a decree suppressing the 
works of Papias, Nepos, Victorinus and Sulpicius 
Severus. 7 "The Council of Eome under Pope 
Damasus, in 373, formally denounced Chiliasm." 8 
Jerome believed 6,000 years would be the actual 
length of the period reaching from the creation to the 
end of the world, and he taught that this period 
would expire in 500 A. d. 9 His view of the Millen- 
nium was much the same as that finally held by 
Augustine (86), which we shall outline in our sketch 
of that distinguished Father. 

81. Lying and Persecution. The London Journal 
of Prophecy states that in the works of Jerome " the 
seeds of most every popish error may be found." 10 

i M, IV, 831. 2 Taylor, p. 94. » M, IV, 830. 

4 Taylor, p. 94. 5 « Qh. Hist.," I, 299. M, II, 652. 

7 All were ardent pre writers. Remnants of the " Confutation " 
by Nepos had survived. Mede (" Works," p. 664) and Brooks (T, 
p. 115) mention the suppression of the writings named. Pope 
Damasus, an unholy man, was canonized a " saint " to be venerated 
(M, II, 652). 

» Taylor, p. 115. 9 Elliott, I, 312, 313. 10 Taylor, p. 94. 



86 THE LOKD'S EETUEN SEEN IN HISTOEY 



Mosheim says lie taught two unrighteous principles 
which were observed by the Eomish Church : 

(1) " It is an act of virtue to deceive and lie, when by 
that means the interests of the Church may be promoted. 

(2) " Errors in religion when maintained and adhered 
to after proper admonition are punishable with civil 
penalties and corporeal torture." 1 

Dr. Elliott shows that Jerome advocated saint and 
martyr worship, veneration of relics, and approached 
close to the doctrine of papal infallibility. 2 Surely 
Martin Luther was right in exclaiming, " Jerome is 
to be avoided ! " 3 

XIV.— AUGUSTINE 
" Some have erred from the faith " (1 Tim. vi. 10). 

82. Augustine, 354-430, Bishop of Hippo, was a 
Chiliast ; but he turned from his pre-millennial views 
and taught a theory which left its imprint on eschatol- 
ogy for nearly a thousand years. 

83. Early Life. His father was a pagan ; his 
mother, a saint. The first half of his life was spent 
in profligacy. Soundly converted under Bishop 
Ambrose and baptized in 387, the middle period of 
his life was very spiritual. The subsequent period is 
certainly not above criticism. 

84. Exegetical Wavering. Kurtz and others de- 
clare with good reason that he was weak as an exe- 

1 Quoted by Taylor, p. 94. 

2 " Horse Apoc," I, 312-314. 

3 Quoted , by Taylor, p. 95. See abstract of Jerome's eschatology 
in Elliott, IV, 312, 320. Consult Lond. Jour. Proph. No, 7; 
Mede's " Works," p. 602; Ward's " Hist. Millen.," p. 21 ; Mosheim's 
" Hist.," I, 116 ; and see Jerome's " De Instit.," ch. XV. 



AUGUSTINE 87 

gete. 1 He knew nothing of Hebrew, and little of 
Greek. He wrote in Latin. The " City of God " 
(" Be Civitati Dei ") is his greatest work. Contradic- 
tions abound in his writings. The last years of his 
life were spent in revising his works, writing retrac- 
tions and admitting serious errors. 

85. Extreme Calvinism. He laid the foundation 
of the doctrine of unconditional predestination. He 
held that the elect cannot resist divine grace, nor can 
they relapse into perdition. Calvin acknowledges 
his indebtedness to Augustine. 2 On the other hand, 
from the beginning of the Christian era, 

"The unanimous and unquestioned doctrine of the 
Church on this point for more than four hundred years was 
. . . precisely the same with that which owes its sci- 
entific form and name to Arminius." 3 

This statement is given in denial of the charge 
sometimes made that pre-millennialism is a doctrine 
essentially Calvinistic. 

86. Millennial Theory. Augustine's theory of 
the Millennium is what logicians call a ' ' begging of 
the question. " He substitutes Christian experience, 
making a Millennium of rather limited extent. The 
following analysis is arranged from Elliott's abstract 
taken from the " City of God." 4 

*« Church Hist.," I, 301, 303. 

2 M, I, 412-418, 543, 544; VIII, 496-502; Elliott, " Horas 
Apoc," I, 289, 290, quoting the Latin from " De Civitati Dei C. 
H. Small, " Corner Stones of Faith," pp. 34, 43 ; art. Augustine in 
" Cham. Ency." 

3 So Wiggers, Gieseler, the Massilians quoted as authority ; and 
Justin Martyr, Irenaeus and other Fathers quoted directly in M, VIII, 
498, 499. 

* Elliott, IV, 130. 



88 THE LOED'S EETUEN SEEN IN HISTOEY 



(a) The first resurrection is the rising of dead souls into 
spiritual life, beginning with the ministry of Christ, from 
which time the Millennium dates. — "Civitati Dei," XX, 
6:l ; 7 : 2. 

(b) The devil, the strong man armed, is bound and 
expelled from the hearts of the disciples of Christ. — " Civ. 
Dei," XX, 7:2. 

(c) The reign of the saints is their personal victory over 
sin and the devil. Satan no longer deceives. — Ibid., XX, 
7:4; 8:1; 9:2. 

(d) The "Beast" is this wicked world; his "image" 
is hypocrisy. — Ibid., XX, 9:3. 

(e) The Millennium will end in 650 A. d., terminating 
the six thousandth year period and introducing the rise of 
Antichrist. — Ibid., XX, 7 : 2, 29. 

To-day Augustine's spiritual theory cauuot be rec- 
onciled with either pre or post millennial views. The 
bloody pagan persecutions, with the devil on a mad 
rampage, and millions suffering martyrdom, are 
events taking place during his Millennium. Com- 
pared with Augustine's view, Whitby's is found to 
be truly a "new hypothesis " (217). 

87. Church Theory. This is in harmony with 
that of the Millennium which has just been outlined. 
According to Augustine the true Church is composed 
only of real, spiritual believers, excluding all hea- 
thens, heretics, and formalists, even though baptized 
and within the pale of the visible Church. The state 
of the true Church in this world is that of u pilgrims 
and strangers, with warfare and tribulation appointed 
them j but with the assured hope of being gathered 
at length to their heavenly home, in the Saviour's 
presence. The whole number at any time is small 
compared with that of the reprobate. " 1 It is sad to 

1 Elliott, I, 289, 290, from the original. 



AUGUSTINE 



89 



know that from this correct view Augustine receded 
in later years. 

88. Treatment of the Donatists. His treatment 
of the Donatists was bitter and severe. They were a 
holy people, professing to enjoy regeneration of heart 
and subsequent purity of heart ; insisted that the true 
Church is composed only of spiritual Christians ; that 
it should be kept clean by discipline ; that Church 
and State should be separate. They were Chiliasts. 1 

(a) Augustine took a position where he held that all 
Catholics, duly baptized, compose the Church ; that all 
others are excluded. He became bigoted, ecclesiastical 
and thoroughly Roman Catholic. " Augustine in oppo- 
sing the Donatists went so far as to call separation from the 
Episcopal Church a crime, and to say that no separatist 
could be saved." 2 

(b) "The Roman Catholic ecclesiastical system rests 
upon Augustine's doctrine of the Church as set forth in 
his writings against the Donatists." 3 

89. Advocate of Persecution. With sorrow of 
heart we must now paint the darkest shadows in the 
life of Augustine. 

(a) Waddington, Neander and Mosheim agree in say- 
ing that he advised the punishment of religious errors by 
penalties even to that of burning people to death. When 
the Donatists " were forbidden, on pain of death, to hold 
religious assemblies," many were burned. A criminal 
officer, touched with sympathy, hesitated ; but Augustine, 
who formerly recommended persuasion by argument, now 
"exhorted the hesitating officer to proceed in the infliction 
of the appointed penalties." * 

(b) Rome points to Augustine for her authority to war- 

1 M, I, 541, 544 ; II, 863 ; and compare 62. 

2 Herzog, " Old Real-Ency.," VII, 568. 

3 M, II, 863. 4 Waddington, " Ch. Hist.," p. 153. 



90 THE LOED'S EETUEN SEEN IN HISTOEY 



rant the martyrdom of millions of human beings. 1 Even 
Bossuet in the seventeenth century quotes Augustine as his 
authority to warrant the cruel torture of pious French Mys- 
tics in the days of Fenelon and Madam Guyon. 2 

90. Augustine modified his millenary views, un- 
christianized all who were not Eoman Catholics, and 
stood for the supremacy of Eome. Jerome and 
Augustine prevailed until the Eeformation. After 
the Eeformation the Protestant Church was chiefly 
pre-millennial. 3 

1 M, I, 544 ; " Cham. Ency.," I, 405. 

2 Neander, " Ch. Hist.," Ill, 197, 217 ; Flottes, "Etudes sur 
Saint Augustin," Paris, 1862 ; Blackburn, " Ch. Hist.," p. 494 
(see 156). 

3 Simcox, Cambridge Bible, "Revelation," p. 13 1. See " Bible 
Cyclopedia, Critical and Expository," A. R. Fausset, Hartford, 
1907, p. 685. 



SECTION IV. — THEOUGH THE DAEK AGES 
TO THE DAWN OF THE EEFOEMATION 



XV.— ROME'S HATRED OF THE DOCTRINE 
"They will not endure sound doctrine" (2 Tim. iv. 3). 

gi. Resume. Evidence has already been adduced 
to prove that Eome was the enemy of Chiliasm. She 
altered the Apostles' Creed (35, 36), and the Nicene 
Creed (77), expelled several Montanistic bodies from 
her fold (61, 63), rejected Eevelation (72), suppressed 
chiliastic literature (80) and formally denounced 
Chiliasm. Under Damasus Jerome became her cham- 
pion, advocating torture and lying (81) ; and Augus- 
tine, departing from his spiritual position, "not only 
adopted the State- Church theory, but pushed it to 
its legitimate consequence, that the State is bound to 
put down separatists by force " 1 (89), which became a 
characteristic Eomish policy. 2 Eome now dates her 
Millennium from the rise of Constantine, and she is 
to judge and rule the world. 3 All who are not Eoman 
Catholics are " heretics" and cannot be saved unless 
they bow the knee to papal rule ; and they must be 
subjugated or exterminated. To Eome belongs uni- 
versal j urisdiction. 

92. Chiliasm Scorned and Extirpated. Eome 
purges this alleged " heresy." 

(a) Baronius, a Roman Catholic historian of the six- 
teenth century, says that after Rome's formal denunciation 

1 M, II, 863. 2 Ibid., 861. 3 Elliott, IV, 131, 132. 

91 



92 THE LOED'S KETUBST SEE^ IN HISTORY 



of Chiliasm the doctrine was derided with " hisses and 
laughter," and being " under the ban " was " entirely ex- 
tirpated." 1 This light was then extinguished, but its 
beams glimmered among the mountains. 2 

(b) Neander says, " Rome was antichiliastic." 3 Pro- 
fessor Briggs affirms that after Caius, 220 a. d., "the 
' error ' does not appear subsequently in the Church of 
Rome."* "Wherever the influence and authority of 
the Church of Rome have extended," declares Bishop 
Newton, " she hath endeavoured by all means to discredit 
this doctrine." 5 Burnet says, "Rome always had an evil 
eye on the Millennium," and also states that he " never met 
with a popish doctor that held the Millennium," but they 
all believe that " Christ reigns already by His vicar, the 
pope." 6 Chillingworth remarks: "That this doctrine is 
by the present Romish Church held false and heretical, I 
think no man will deny." 7 Whitby himself acknowledges 
that pre-millennialism " is now rejected by all Roman 
Catholics." 8 In scathing terms Rome condemned the 
Evangelical Alliance. 9 



XVI.— THE AWFUL WICKEDNESS OF THE 
DARK AGES 

"Giving themselves over to foruication " (Jude 7). 

Chiliasm, accompanied by Holiness, has been 
banished to the Alps. Before we visit them there, 
we shall pause to see what Eome has to offer the 
world after their departure. 

93. The People are Intensely Ignorant. Only 

1 Taylor, p. 115. 

2 Among Waldenses, Henricians, Cathari, etc. 

3 " Ch. Hist.," I, 651. 4 Luth. Quar. y IX, 235. 

5 " Dissert. Proph.," p. 527, analyzing Rev. xx. 

6 " Theory of the Earth," II, 193. 

7 « Works," p. 174 in T, p. 100. 

8 " Treatise," quoted in T, p. 228. 9 Meth. Qicar., 1845, P« 9$. 



THE DAEK AGES 



93 



one person in a thousand can read. Only one in 
twenty thousand can write. The world is black with 
wickedness. The Church is corrupt in doctrine and 
in life, and has become the nursery of vice and im- 
morality. u There was no vice which was not prev- 
alent among the clergy and in the monasteries, and 
immorality passed over from them to the people.'' 1 

g4. Rome Promotes the Social Evil. Shall the 
truth be told ? 

D'Aubigne tells us that at low prices Rome sold permits 
to indulge in adultery and infanticide, and he quotes 
Infessura as saying that "all the clergy kept mistresses, ( 
and all the convents of the capital were houses of ill 
fame." 2 The nunneries were notoriously wicked, and the 
clergy were licensed to live in concubinage. Erasmus 
says that "in one year eleven thousand priests paid a 
bishop a regular tax for the privilege of immoral relations 
with women." 3 " The history of the age swarmed with 
scandals." " In many places the people were delighted 
at seeing a priest with a mistress, that the married women 
might be safe from his seductions." * Hallen records the 
fact that pilgrimages to the shrines of saints were attended 
by multitudes of dissolute women who practiced the 
grossest licentiousness, 5 and Elliott compares the abomina- 
tions of the priests with those practiced in Sodom. 6 

The learned German historian, Professor Kurtz, says 
that " Monks and nuns of neighbouring convents lived in 
open sin with one another," and the " bishops of Rome 
lived in open concubinage," while the people 41 made no 
objection, thinking it would save their wives and daughters 
at the confessional." 7 D'Aubigne speaks of the " lying, 

1 M, II, 272. s " Hist. Reformation," Hurst ed., I, 64. 

3 Op., IX, 401, in Ibid. y I, 63, quoting the Latin text. 

4 Nicol De Clemangis, in D'Aubigne, " Hist. Reform.," Hurst 
ed., I, 62. 

3 " Middle Ages," II, 255. 6 " Horse Apoc," 1, 41 ; II, 386, 387. 
?« Church Hist.," II, 157. 



94 THE LOED'S EETUEN SEEN IN HISTOEY 



extortion, drunkenness, profanity and immorality " which 
covered the land, and he says that " abandoned women at 
this time governed Rome and the throne which pretended 
to rise above the majesty of kings was sunk deep in the 
dregs of vice." 1 

Eonie positively refused to tolerate Chiliasni, 2 or 
to hear anything concerning the return of the Lord. 
Why? Why? Was she willing for His return? 
Was she ready ? No ! Chiliasm is found to be 
holier because of her ejection from the family of 
Eome. 

Eeturning to the days of primitive Christianity, 
we shall find a holy people whose doctrines are pure 
and whose lives are clean ; a people who were ready 
for the coming of the Lord, loving not this present 
evil world, and proclaiming full salvation from its 
wickedness and woe. Their faith was pre-millennial. 
We shall trace their fortunes to the dawn of the 
Eeformation. 

XVII.— THE WALDENSES 
"Truth shall spriug out of the earth " (PSA. lxxxv. 11). 

A holy people, banished and persecuted by Eome, 
held the primitive faith of the early Church. They 
are known by various names. Eome expelled from 
her fold large bodies of pious people who were strong 
in the faith of the pre-millennial return of the Lord. 

Ut Hist. Reform.," Hurst ed., I, 45, 58-64. 

2 In addition to 80, 91 it might be noted that Schaff, in speaking 
of Irenseus, says he " maintained the millenarian views which were 
subsequently abandoned by the Catholic Church " (" Ch. Hist.," I, 
488, 489, in M, IV, 647). If Rome had not been chiliastic, how 
could she " abandon " those " views" ? 



THE WALDENSES 



95 



What became of them f There are others also who 
claim never to have been Eoman Catholics, and never 
to have held her papal doctrines. 

95. The Waldenses, Christians of the Walds, are 
the most interesting people seen in Christendom. 

(a) They trace their origin to apostolic days. 

(b) They were a very holy people. 

(c) Their missionary zeal was like a flaming fire. 1 

(d) They suffered awful persecution from Rome. 2 

(e) They lived in constant expectation of the Lord's 
return. 

PRIMITIVE ORIGIN OF THE "WALDENSES 

96. Rome's Denial. Eome and some recent 
writers have denied that the Waldenses are of primi- 
tive origin. 

(a) Rome claims to be the first and only Church. 
All other claimants must therefore be silenced. 

(b) Rome asserts that the Lyonese reformer, whom she 
calls Peter Waldo, founded this sect late in the twelfth 
century, and that from him the name is derived. 

(c) Waldensian claims cannot be proved, she asserts, 
by any manuscripts extant. 

(d) "Barefaced forgery" has been practiced, Rome 
declares, to attempt to show existence prior to the time of 
"Peter Waldo." 

(e) A. W. Dieckhoff, J. J. Herzog, and M. Montet 
have investigated Waldensian claims and they testify that 
no evidence exists to prove primitive origin. 

1 " There was nothing more remarkable about the early Waldenses 
than their missionary spirit." — " The Waldenses" Presby. B'd Pud., 
Phil., 1833, PP' 4 s ) 43' The money given by each congregation for 
missions was equal to that given for the support of its own pastor 
{Ibid.). Peddlers, roaming Europe, quoted Scripture, giving away 
portions as "the best of jewels " (Blackburn, " Ch. Hist.," p. 312). 

2 All historians dwell upon the awful record of their sufferings. 
See quotations and citations in Elliott, II, 29 ; and " The Israel of 
the Alps," Muston, Lond., 1875, a complete work. 



96 THE LOKD'S EETUEN SEEN IN HISTOEY 



ARGUMENT IN SUPPORT OF PRIMITIVE ORIGIN 

97. Not Contradicted. In early centuries, on 
various occasions, before popes, emperors and kings, 
the Waldenses spoke of their primitive origin and 
were not contradicted. 1 

98. Origin of Name. The Waldenses derived 
their name from the valleys of the Alps, their ancient 
home. 2 They were known as the Yaudois. It is a 
significant fact that Peter of Lyons was never called 
"Waldo" until after his death, when the primitive 
origin of the Waldenses was first disputed. 3 

99. Travels of St. Paul. When Paul went to 
Spain by way of Eome he must have gone through 
the Cottian Alps, and probably returned over the 
same road.* 

"The most common opinion among Protestant writers 
is, that the conversion of the Waldenses was begun by 
some of the very early Christian missionaries, perhaps by 
some of the Apostles themselves, on their way to Gaul, and 
that it was completed and the churches more fully organ- 

1 "Waldenses," ch. 1, and Elliott, II, 347. 

2 The ancient wady, or wadi, is a valley containing a small moun- 
tain stream. The German wald means valley. Vallis, Val, gives 
Vallenses ; its plural, Vaux, gives Vaudois. W is not in the Latin 
alphabet, but V has the sound of the English W. 

3 Elliott, II, 334-337 quotes fifteen authorities. 

4 Note the following points : ( 1) If Paul went to Spain it was after 
his perilous experience in the deep, and therefore he would prefer to 
go by land (M, VII, 813, 815). (2) From Corinth to Spain is a sea 
route, but Paul said he would go by way of Rome (Rom. xv. 24, 28). 
(3) The old road from Rome to Spain was through the Cottian 
Alps in Gaul (France). (4) Over land, Paul could evangelize as 
he travelled, and he could preach to sailors in port. (5) Early 
traditions say he went to Spain by land after writing the Philippians, 
and after his first imprisonment. Clement of Rome says he went to 
the extremity of the West (Clem, on Rom., I Cor. v.). Return- 
ing, he was imprisoned and martyred. 



THE WALDENSES 



97 



ized by a large influx of Christians from Rome after the 
first general persecution under Nero." 1 

100. A Few Testimonies. What have writers 
said? 

(a) Merle DAubigne, president of the Geneva, Switzer- 
land, theological school, says in his five volume history of 
the Reformation: "The Waldenses compose a long line 
of witnesses to the truth. Men more unfettered than the 
rest of the Church seem from the most distant times to 
have inhabited the summits of the Piedmontese Alps. 
. . . From their mountain heights the Waldenses 
protested during a long series of ages against the supersti- 
tions of Rome." 2 

(b) Faber says " the primevally Latin Waldenses must 
have retired from the lowlands of Italy to the valleys of 
Piedmont in the very days of primitive Christianity " ; and 
he remarks that "it was not they which separated from 
Romanism, but Romanism which separated from them, in 
departing from the primitive faith." 3 

(c) Milton writes of " this most ancient stock of relig- 
ion," 4 and Taylor says, "It is well known that they 
acknowledge no founder." 5 " When persecution brought 
them to the light of the world," says Blackburn, " they 
had the Bible, loved it, and studied it." 6 Dr. W. P. 
Strickland, of New York City, says, " The Waldensian 
Church was a light on the mountains during the dark 
ages, and, amid all the corruptions of the Church, it held 
its open Bible and pure doctrines." 7 

(d) Joachim of Floris (124), writing in 1183, says 
Waldensian origin was then of ancient date, beyond known 
record. 8 

(e) " In 730 A. d. dissenters from Rome dwelt in the 
Cottian Alps," says Warnfrid, who shows that they be- 
longed to no diocese of Rome. 9 

1 " Waldenses," p. 28 ; " Israel of the Alps," I, 29. 
* Amer. Tr. Society ed., I, 95, 96. 3 " Waldenses," p. 28. 

4 Quoted in T, p. 129. 6 Ibid. 6 " Ch. Hist.," p. 311. 

' M, X, 857. s « Com., Venice," 1527. in El., II, 377, 386. 
9 " Hist. Lombards," and De Marca in Gilly's « Wald," EL, II, 236. 



98 THE LOED'S EETUEN SEEN IN HISTOEY 



A volume of similar testimony might be adduced. 1 
xoi. Dialect. M. Eenouard, the distinguished 
philologist, who writes without any ecclesiastical in- 
terest whatever, declares that the earliest Waldensiau 
writings now extant are in a dialect which denotes a 
very remote antiquity. 2 

102. Veracity. It is admitted by all writers 
that the Waldenses were a very holy people. " The 
Eeformers found them to be in little need of reforma- 
tion. " 3 We have seen their devotion to the sacred 
Scriptures. The attempt to defame their character 
comes from Eome. 

Blackburn mentions the fact that Roman priests said 
Waldensian children were born with " black throats and 
goat's feet," but he says that a duke, sent to investigate, 
exclaimed, " How charming they are ! The prettiest I 
ever saw." This historian notes also that Louis XII sent 
a commissioner as a spy to watch the life and learn the 
faith of the Waldenses. The commissioner remarked : 
" Would to God that I were as good a Christian as the 
worst of these people," while Louis himself concluded 
that " they are, indeed, better men than we are." 4 

Shall we impeach Waldensian testimony as to 
ancient origin, or shall we believe the reports which 
emanate from Eome? The Waldenses are honest. 
Eome believes that u lying " is justifiable when it 
will promote the interests of the 4 1 Church." (See 
Jerome, 81.) 

1 Oh Waldensian antiquity the student may consult the writings cf 
Reinerius, Rorenco, Pilichdorf, Claude Scyssel, Moreland, Allix, 
Leger, Henry Arnaud, Robert Clevetan, Perin, Muston, Monastier, 
Usher and a host of others, with the literature which they quote. 
See " Israel of the Alps," II, 397-540. 

2 « Waldenses," p. 36. 

3 Blackburn, « Ch. Hist.," p. 31 1. 4 Ibid., p. 313. 



THE WALDENSES 



99 



103. Records Ruined. John Leger, Waldensian 
historian, collected records showing apostolic origin. 
In the persecution of 1655 Eome secured and destroyed 
every leaf of his collections. Duplicate matter and 
new material subsequently discovered met a some- 
what similar fate. 

Oliver Cromwell (pre) sent aid to the Waldenses. Sir 
Samuel Moreland was about to depart for Europe. Arch- 
bishop Usher, friend of the Waldenses, urged Moreland to 
use diligence in gathering information to prove their an- 
tiquity. Valuable material was obtained. In 1658 the 
matter was brought to England and placed in the Cam- 
bridge Library. Twenty-one volumes were deposited. 
The first seven, relating to antiquity, disappeared from the 
library, and have never been found." 1 

M. Montet expressed a desire to write a history of 
Waldensian literature. They gave him such matter as 
could be found. He claims to have classified this matter 
as belonging to three periods : (1) an early period show- 
ing loyalty to Rome ; (2) later, opposition to Rome ; 
(3) finally, corrupted and forged documents affirming 
primitive origin. Montet denied primitive origin, branded 
them as forgers, and destroyed every scrap of material 
which they had given him and by which he had obtained 
his information. 2 Montet must have been an admirer of 
Jerome (81). 

104. Recent Doubt. The only serious doubt as to 
the primitive origin of the Waldenses arose after the 
middle of the nineteenth century. This doubt is 
based upon Dieckhoff's account in 1851, and Herzog's 
in 11853. They state that no documentary evidence 
can be found to establish the Waldensian claim. Did 
such evidence never exist ? 3 

1 Elliott, II, 350, 351, giving history. 2 " Ency. Diet.," IV, 5112. 
3 Dieckhoff and Herzog are not entirely correct. Muston and 
Faber quote Rorenco who was granted access to Piedmontese 



100 THE LORD'S RETURN SEEN IN HISTORY 



105. The " Noble Lesson " {Ndbla Leiczon) sur- 
vives. Moreland's Cambridge copy was part of the 
material 4 1 abstracted. " However, an old Gothic copy 
on parchment now lies in Geneva, Switzerland. It is 
the oldest remaining literary monument of the Walden- 
ses. It seems to have been written 1100 A. D., about 
seventy years before the appearance of " Waldo." 

Rome insists that the original date was 1400 ; that some 
heretic by slight erasure made it 11 00; that the loop of 
the original " 4 " can be discerned. 

But Rome is mute when asked to explain the charge 
that an interested party without making any erasure 
actually raised " 1 " to "4" by two easily added strokes, 
making "1100" read "1400." Now, if the "loop" 
of the "original 4 " is discernible, the change must have 
been made by an honest hand to restore the original date. 
A forger would aim to leave no trace. 

The text of the " Lesson " gives the date. The first six 
lines read : 

" O Brethren, give ear to a Noble Lesson, 
We ought always to watch and pray 
For we see the world to be near a conclusion ; 
We ought to strive to do good works 
For we see the end of the world approach : 
A thousand and one hundred years are fully 
accomplished." 1 

Note the simplicity, devotion, likeness to Bible language, 
and the time mentioned in words. 2 

government records, a rare privilege, and who found by those 
records that in the eighth century the "Waldenses were not a new 
sect (Elliott, II, 348, 349, giving sources). As Prior of St. Roch in 
Turin, Rorenco had been duly commissioned. 

1 " Waldenses," p. 30. In the original, lines five and six read : 

" Car nos veyen aquest mont de la Jin apropriar ; 
Ben ha mil e cent ancz compli entierament." 

—Elliott, II, 522. 

2 Elliott (IV, 522-534) quotes the entire " Noble Lesson " from 
the original. There are 480 lines. 



THE WALDENSES 



101 



Volumes have been written showing the antiquity 
of the Waldenses. After long and careful research 
the foregoing line of argument is now left with the 
reader. 1 

WALDENSIAN LONGING FOR THE LORD'S RETURN 

106. The Faith of the Waldenses. The " Noble 
Lesson" teaches that (1) from Adam to the present 
time comparatively few have been saved (1100 A. D. ) ; 
(2) that the righteous, dying, go direct to heaven ; the 
wicked, to hell ; (3) that good is decreasing, and evil 
increasing ; (4) that the end is very near ; (5) they 
look for the appearing of their " Celestial King." 
The early writings of the Waldenses are rare, but 
aside from the tenor of the " Noble Lesson " their faith 
in the pre-millennial return of the Lord is proved by 
evidence from numerous sources. 

(a) Morris, in "Modern Chiliasm Refuted," says that 
"the seed of Chiliasm has always remained in the Church." 3 
Harnack writes, saying that after Augustine Chiliasm " still 
lived on, however, in the lower strata of Christian society." 3 

(b) Writing on the Waldenses the Congregational Jour- 
nal repeats the well-known fact that "they preserved alive 

1 " The Vaudois are a chain which unites the reformed churches 
with the first disciples of our Saviour. It is in vain that Popery, 
renegade from evangelical virtues, has a thousand times sought to 
break this chain. Empires have crumbled — dynasties have fallen — 
but this chain of Scriptural testimony has not been broken, because its 
strength is not from men, but from God." — " Israel of the Alps," 
A 2 9> 

" In the Waldensian Synod Hall there is a crest of the Vaudois 
Church — an anvil with many hammers broken about it, and the 
motto : * Triiuntur mallei : re??ianet incus.'* " — A. T. Pier son ^ " Seed 
Thoughts" p. iyo. 

* P. 97, quoted by T, p. 132. 

3 "Ency. Brit.," XVIII, 462, ed. 11. 



102 THE LOKD'S EETUKN SEEN IN HISTOEY 



the teachings of the primitive Church." 1 That teaching 
was chiliastic, — pre-millennial. 

(c) Rome was anti-chiliastic, and the Waldenses were 
anti-Roman in faith as well as in practice. 

(d) The Waldenses "have always regarded the papal 
Church as the Antichrist ; the Babylon of the Apoc- 
alypse." 2 Driven to the Alps, shivering amid the snow, 
persecuted by Rome, they saw no Millennium and knew 
that Satan was not bound, but looked rather for their 
" Celestial King " to return and destroy Antichrist with 
awful judgments from heaven. 

(e) " They condemned the mystical or allegorical in- 
terpretations of Scripture." 3 They followed literal inter- 
pretation. 

(f) The Montanists (6i) in great numbers came from 
Asia Minor to Italy and were driven by persecution to the 
Piedmont district around the Alps, many moving onward 
to Lyons, in Gaul. The Novatians (63) and the Dona- 
tists (88) were likewise dispersed. Montanists and other 
Chiliasts settled in large numbers in the vicinity of Lyons, 
and are later identified as Waldenses. They came through 
the Cottian Alps, and are traced into the sixth century. 4 

(g) Professor Beckwith finds Chiliasm echoed "in the 
letters of the Christians at Lyons." 5 The Lyonese re- 
former, "Peter Waldo," whom Rome ostensibly claims to 
regard as their founder, and his "Poor Men of Lyons," 
were Chiliasts. Rome thus virtually concedes Chiliasm to 
have been the faith of the Waldenses. Moreover, they 
were "heretics," and Chiliasm is "heresy." 

(h) D. T. Taylor finds Chiliasm "among the Wal- 
denses and others of the dark ages." 6 

This was the faith of the Paulicians and the Cathari 
(108, 112), including Albigenses, Mystics, and other 
dissenters. 

(i) In "The Israel of the Alps," probably the most 

1 Nov., 1851 ; see T, p. 131. 8 Taylor, p. 129. 

»" Ency. Relig. Knowl.," art., "Waldenses," in T, p. 129. 
4 « Ency. Diet," III, 3188. » Schaff-Herzog, VII, 375. 

«T, p. 132. 



THE PATJLICIAKS 



103 



complete history of the Waldenses ever written, are found 
the testimonies of many persons showing not only the gen- 
eral prevalence of this faith but also its effect upon their 
lives. 

(j) G. C. Lorimer, in his work entitled "The Baptists 
in History," traces his denomination to the Anabaptists 
(138) who in turn are extracted from the Waldenses. 1 

(k) 1 'The Church of the Waldenses is the only fully 
organized Protestant Church in Italy." 2 " The Waldenses 
are the native Free Church of Italy." 3 Dr. Kellogg calls 
attention to the fact that since protection has been guar- 
anteed by the temporal power the Free Church of Italy has 
pre-millennialism incorporated into its creed as an article 
of faith. 4 The Plymouth Brethren (161), closely allied 
with the Waldenses, are strongly entrenched in Italy under 
the very shadows of the Vatican. 5 

Holiness and Chiliasm as shining lights beamed 
brightly from the mountains for more than a thou- 
sand years before the Eeformation. But within the 
pale of Eome, as Professor Bash remarks, " through 
the dreary tract of the ages of darkness scarcely a 
vestige of Millenarian sentiment is to be traced. 1 1 6 

The Paulicians and the Cathari deserve special men- 
tion, and then we look towards the Eeformation. 

XVIII.— THE PAULICIANS 
" Be ye followers of me " (1 Coe. iv. 16).— St. Paul. 

107. Name and Origin. The Paulicians (Paul- 
ikians), "a powerful Eastern sect," originated in or 
before the sixth century ; some say the fourth century, 
while others assign their origin to a much earlier 



1 Page 50 of work cited. » M, VI, 710 (A. D. 1883). 

3 Small, » Cor. Stones," p. 437. * « Biblio. Sacra," XLV, 253. 
8 M, IV, 710. 6 Taylor, p. 116. 



104 THE LOKD'S EETUEN SEEN IN HISTOEY 



date. According to St. Bernard "they called them- 
selves Apostolics, or successors of the Apostles." 
Others say they claimed "to be followers of the 
doctrines of Paul." 1 In Italy they were called Pata- 
rinV The Patarini were Cathari 3 (110-112). In 
France they were called Albigenses. 4 Elliott writes 
of them at considerable length, 5 calling them Cathari 
or Paulikians. 6 With the Waldenses, they were hor- 
ribly persecuted. Under the reign of Theodora 
alone (841-857), lasting sixteen years, 100,000 were 
slain ! 7 Back in the fourth century many had been 
expelled from Borne. 8 

108. Religious Belief. Their doctrines were 
strictly anti-Bomish. From Elliott's account, sup- 
ported by copious evidence, the Paulicians are 
known to have taught that 

(a) This present evil age is ruled by Satan, the author 
of all evil, according to 2 Cor. iv. 4; John xiv. 30; 
1 John iii. 8; v. 19. 

(b) As the great object of their hopes, they looked for 
their "King and Judge" to return and introduce the 
world (ala>v) to come, overturning the Usurper and reign- 
ing with power and authority. 9 

They have been falsely charged with Manicheism, but 
Dr. Elliott with his usual thoroughness has fully vindicated 
them. 10 

109. Exalted Character. They always had the 

J M, VII, 835, 836; Elliott, II, 290; T, p. 126. 
2 M, VI, 836. 3 M, VII, 764. 4 M, VII, 836. 

5 " Horse Apoc," II, 240-519. 6 Ibid., II, 284. 

1 Blunt, " Hist, of Sects," " Ency. Diet," III, 3507 ; M, X, 318. 
8 M, II, 652. 

9 " Horse Apoc.," II, 312, 313, 330, 331. The Formula of Anath- 
ema in Photius and in Cedrenus uses the term (aicuv), meaning 
dispensation or age, and not earth. — Elliott. 
10 Ibid., II, 303-333, 494-5 20. 



THE CATHAEI 



105 



Scriptures. Their missionary spirit was intense, and 
cost the sacrifice of thousands of lives. They were a 
holy and heavenly-minded people. This world was 
not their resting place ; they were pilgrims, saluting 
each other as " absentees," — " absent from the Lord " 
(2 Cor. v. 6). " The Paulikian ministers were styled 
missionary fellow-pilgrims, 7 ' and they spoke of their 
brethren as "pilgrims." 1 The world hated them; 
they were blasphemed ; but they walked even as 
Christ walked. 



XIX.— THE CATHARI 
' 1 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God ' ' (Matt. v. 8). 

no. The Cathari (from xadapos, meaning clean, 
clear, pure) were the "Pure" and the "Good," as 
Blackburn observes. 2 Mosheim, Gibbon and Mait- 
land regard the Paulicians as " the immediate relig- 
ious ancestors of the Cathari." 3 But "the origin of 
the Cathari is unknown ; the name itself, however, is 
Greek, and indicates an oriental origin. n 4 We have 
seen that the Novatians (63) during the reign of 
Constantine were called Cathari. The work of No- 
vatian lived; his "Puritan" followers descend; we 
find them again. 

" Truth, crushed to earth, shall rise again." 

The poor people of Flanders and the weavers of 
Southern France were Cathari. 5 

in. Piety. They had the New Testament. Deny- 



1 " Horse Apoc," II, 330. 2 " Ch. Hist.," p. 332. 

3 M, II, 155. 4 ibid. 5 Blackburn, " Ch. Hist.," p. 332. 



106 THE LOBD'S EETUEN SEEN IN HISTOEY 



ing the importance of mere works and ritualism 
they "held that prayer, abstinence, and the> bap- 
tism with the Holy Spirit were sufficient to salva- 
tion. 7 1 1 Their religious services were very simple ; 
their places of worship "destitute of ornaments, 
crosses, and images. " However, they were holy in 
life and teaching, insisting that all Christians be 
baptized with the Holy Spirit. 2 Since they were the 
victims of persecution and defamation of character, 
testimony is admitted in their defense : 

Milner, after making very extended research, declares 
that "they were a plain, unassuming, harmless and indus- 
trious race of Christians, condemning, by their doctrines 
and manners, the whole apparatus of reigning idolatry and 
superstition, placing true religion in the faith and love of 
Christ, and retaining a supreme regard for the divine 
Word." 3 Bishop Hurst extols their virtues, saying they 
guarded every idle word and every thought, and affirming 
that those who assailed their character were immoral 
people. 4 

ii2. Faith. Blackburn says " they mingled with 
the Paulicians." 5 They held the same faith relative 
to the return of the Lord. Blackburn observes that 
they were " Montanistic," 6 and we are not left to 
guess what this means. They repudiated the "anti- 
chiliastic" doctrine of Eome, were branded as her- 
etics, schismatics and bigots, but they were ready 
and were watching for the coming of the Lord. 

1 Blackburn, « Ch. Hist," p. 332. 2 m, II, 156, 157. 

3 " Ch. Hist.," ch. in, cent. xii. 

4 " Ch. Hist," I, 825, 826. s « Ch. Hist," p. 332. 

6 Ibid. Blackburn means chiliastic. The Irvingites ( 163), who 
hold Chiliasm as an article of faith, he calls " modern Montanism," 
and Thiersch, their strong pre-millennial exponent, he styles their 
" Turtullian."— " Ch. Hist.;' p. 646, note. 



EOME'S POST-MILLENNIALISM 107 



Milner attributes to them " The Noble Lesson " (105), 
regarding them as Waldenses. 1 

With the Waldenses, the Paulicians and the 
Cathari, who occupy the mountain peaks of Chris- 
tian experience, rising above the pall of darkness 
that covers the world, may we be permitted to stand 
and watch the morning stars as they sing together of 
the coming Eeformation. 



XX. — ROME'S DEVELOPMENT OF POST- 
MILLENNIALISM 

" The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their 
means " (Jee. v. 31). 

Standing with the "Pure" and the " Good " 2 we 
looked over a dark valley and saw the glimmering 
dawn of the Eeformation. We descend into the 
valley to watch the movements of Eome. We have 
seen her vanquish Chiliasm and plunge into the 
mire of immorality. She loved darkness rather than 
light. She invented and developed Post-millennial- 
ism. Whitby improved its complexion and chris- 
tened it anew (217). 

113. Rome's Millennium dates from the rise of 
Constantine, 325 A. D., 3 and the Church as an in- 
corporate body becomes the reigning and ruling 
power. 4 In the fourth century the bishops of Eome 
claimed universal jurisdiction. 

^'Ch. Hist.," II, ch. in. See also Moreland's "Hist, of the 
Churches of Piedmont " ; also Allix on " Churches of Piedmont," 
p. 160. 

2 See no. 3 See 73, 74. 4 Elliott, IV, 131, 132. 



108 THE LOED'S EETUEN SEEN IN HISTOEY 



114. Religion lies in Formal Rites. Glories 
promised by Old Testament prophets are applied to 
Eome nationally as the Church visible. 1 But his- 
torians testify that formal baptism supplanted re- 
generation and justification by faith. Allegoriziug, 
Judaizing, and heathenism now prevail. 2 Coleridge 
was right when he said she " paganized Christianity 
in order to christen Paganism." 3 In magnificence 
and pomp baptism was administered to thousands 
arrayed in white robes. 4 This alone is salvation and 
grants a share in rulership. 5 

115. Rome will Rule. Eome's post-millennial 
imperialism was heralded by the striking of medals, 6 
by the display of paintings, 7 by the eloquence of 
orators, 8 by the conferring of titles, 9 by the declara- 

1 Elliott, I, 250, 251. 

2 Mosheim, Neander, Waddington and Milner are so quoted by 
Elliott, I, 270, 271, 274, 276. 

3 Quoted by Taylor, p. 1 12. 4 Elliott, I, 239. 

5 Step " 16" in Romish baptism: " He is anointed on the head 
to show that by baptism he becomes a king and a priest " (M, I, 
650). 

6 As one of many instances : Constantine caused a medal to be 
made which showed a phoenix standing on a globe ; and this medal, 
presented to him as emperor, represented sovereignty over the earth 
(Elliott, I, 240, quoting from sources). Elliott gives engravings and 
inscriptions of many later medals of similar nature. 

1 On the arc of the Florentines is painted the likeness of a pope 
standing with one foot on the land and the other on the sea. He 
holds in his right hand a key, opening heaven; and in his left hand 
another, opening hell. Underneath the picture are these words: 
" In thy hand I behold the empire of earth, sea, and heaven " 
(El., II, 56, 57). 

8 As late as 15 14, Pacecchi, an orator heading an embassy from 
the king of Portugal, stood before Pope Leo and proclaimed " the 
latter day subjection of the world to Christ, as meant of its subjection 
to the pope" (EL, II, 70). 

9 From many sources a canon law may be quoted which speaks of 
"our Lord God the Pope " (El., Ill, 166, note). 



BOME'S POST-MILLENNIALISM 109 



tions of popes, 1 and by actions which spoke in louder 
tones than the sounding of martial trumpet blast. 2 

116. Papal Plans. Leo I (440-461), holding sway 
twenty-one years, and "endowed by nature with the 
old Eoman spirit of dominion . . . developed in 
his mind the idea of an ecclesiastical monarchy, with 
the pope at the head. . . . He carried through 
his claims to supreme power over the whole Church 
with greater energy than any of his predecessors. 
. . . The bishops of the African and Spanish 
churches submitted to his demands. In Gaul, how- 
ever, he met with determined resistance." 3 The 
Vaudois (98) and the Lyonese were chiliastic, and 
refused to accept Eome's corrupt millennium as 
that of the Bible, which they believed would not be 
seen until the return of the Lord. However, the 
spirit of Leo inspired his successors. The encroach- 
ments of Eome were steady and far-reaching. Mil- 
lions yielded unwillingly to the mandates of Eome. 
Millions more were martyred. 4 

117. The End of the World in 1000 a. d. Crafty 
Eome taught that the earth would be destroyed in 
1000 A. D. During the period between 950 and 1000 
great numbers of rich land owners were persuaded by 

1 Gregory II said : " All kings of the West reverence the pope as 
a God on earth " (Elliott, III, 169, quoting Gibbon, LX, 137). Kings 
and princes kissed his feet (El., Ill, 171, quoting much similar 
matter). Innocent VI said : " Is not the king of England my bond- 
slave ? " And again, " God hath set me as prince over all na- 
tions."— Le Bas « Wy cliff p. 67 in EL, III, 161. 

2 One of many incidents: Pope Celestin III, in 1191, kicked the 
imperial crown from the head of Henry VI while that king was 
bowing before " His Holiness." This was to signify the power of 
the pope to depose the king. — El., Ill, 161. 

3 M, VII, 629. 4 See 89, 95, 107, 144. 



110 THE LOED'S EETUEN SEEN IX HISTORY 



Eome to convey their estates to the Church in ex- 
change for the pardon of their sins. 1 By this strata- 
gem Eome became immensely rich. It seemed as 
though she would own the world. 4 'The estates 
were not returned when they found that the world 
outlasted the year 1000." 2 "The Church at this 
time," according to Myers, "was in possession of 
probably one-half of the lands of Europe." 3 Mag- 
nificent cathedrals were erected. 4 Some idea of the 
wealth that has been lavished upon cathedrals 
may be obtained from the fact that St. Paul's cost 
$55,000,000; St, Peter's cost $200,000,000 ! 5 Enor- 
mous revenue was obtained also by the sale of bogus 
relics, images of saints, permissions to indulge in 
every form of sin, offerings at sacred shrines, masses 
for the dead, and testamentary bequests. 6 Eome is 
rich, but her money is tainted. 

118. Resumption of Papal Imperialism. 1000 
A. D. is past. The world remains. Much land is yet to 
be possessed. Millions of people are yet to be subdued. 

" The great popes of the Middle Ages, Gregory VII 
(1073 a. d.), Alexander III (1159), Innocent III (1198) 
and IV (1243), and Boniface VIII (1294) had clearly 
and boldly traced the boundary outlines of the papal the- 
ocracy to which the entire human race was to be subjected ; 
but the Jesuits have done more than all popes and bishops 

1 Deeds contained this clause : " Appropinquante mundi termino" 
i.e., as the end of the world is approaching ( " Ency. Die," 
111,3135). 

2 Ibid. J " Gen. Hist.," ed. 1893, P- 453- 

4 " The cathedrals of Strasburg, Mayence, Trier, Speyer, Worms, 
Basil, Dijou, Toul, and others, date from 1000 A. D." (Gieseler, 
" Eccl. Hist.," II, 100). 

5 W. B. Godbey, " Around the World," pp. 34, 36, Cincin., 1907. 

6 Barnes, " Notes, Rev.," p. 278. 



EOME'S POST-MILLEOTTALISM 111 



for developing the principles according to which the ad- 
ministration of such an empire must be carried on, in order 
to be consistent and effective." 1 

When Cardinal Hildebrand became Pope Gregory VII, 
" He clearly and boldly set forth the theory of a theocratic 
rule of the pope over all nations of the world. . . . 
The papacy he represented as the sun from whom all secu- 
lar authority, also the empire, derived their light like the 
moon. . . . He established the doctrine of the in- 
fallibility and sanctity of the pope." 2 

Kurtz points to this " universal theocracy" with the 
pope as its visible head, " over all the powers of the earth. ' ' 3 

119. The Reigning of Saints. In the worship of 
saints and the veneration of relics we find another 
article of post-rnillennial faith in the Eomish Church. 
During the Millennium glorified saints sit upon 
thrones and j udgrnent is given unto them. 4 Dr. Mait- 
laud says : 

" The superstitions of the age supposed the glorified 
saints to know what was going on in the world, and to 
feel a deep interest, and possess a considerable power, in 
the Church militant on earth." 5 

The Eastern Church prayed to saints as early "as the 
fourth century ; the Western, about the eighth cen- 
tury. 6 

This faith may be seen in the Council of Trent, 
December, 1563, which reads in part : 

I confess . . . likewise that the saints reigning 
together with Christ are to be honoured and invocated, 
that they offer prayers to God for us, and that their relics 
are to be venerated." 7 

Eome has canonized many a wicked " saint." 

» M, VII, 631. » M, VII, 630. a « Ch. Hist.," II, 39. 
4 Rev. xx. 4. 5 " Dark Ages " (A. D. 800-1200), p. 75. 

6 Proctor, " Common Prayer," p. 229. t M, II, 563. 



112 THE LOBD'S KETUKN SEEK IN HISTOEY 



u Saints they were called, but saints they were not," 
remarks Elliott. 1 John Wesley, after reading eulo- 
gistic biographies of several Romish u saints," ex- 
claimed : "I fear the relators do not scruple lying 
for the Church." 2 (See 81.) 

As to relics, monks peddled them and battles were 
fought for their possession. " Bones and skulls, 
picked up and salted," were deified. 3 

120. Judging the World. John the Apostle saw 
the saints, who were saints indeed, and " judgment 
was given unto them" (Rev. xx. 4). c 'His Holi- 
ness," the pope, with " saints" departed, is supposed 
to be holy enough to rule the world. As to wisdom, 
the pope is "infallible," and therefore wise enough 
to rule the world. Perfect in holiness and in 
wisdom, Rome felt divinely commissioned to "execute 
judgment and justice in the earth" (Jer. xxiii. 5). 
Vengeance is hers. She hath slain her millions 
(143, 144). She has always stood as the dispenser of 
wisdom and knowledge. But according to her 
wisdom she withheld knowledge which might not 
prove subservient to her interests. 

There were no books printed or written, no sermons 
preached, no mention made of Antichrist or of coming 
judgment, without Roman censorship, under penalty of 
death, according to papal edict. All must be in subjec- 
tion to the Roman pontiff as Christ's representative. The 
promised latter-day glory was seen in the pope's univer- 
sally extending empire. 4 

121. But the Earth "Does Move." Rome con- 

1 " Horse Apoc," II, io, note I. 
« « Works," Lond., 1829, III, 123. 

3 El., I, 312, 313, quoting from numerous sources. 

4 El, II, 82, 83, 130, 131. 



ONWAED TO THE EEFOEMATION 113 



demued Copernicus and Galileo, and claims that 
education outside of her direction is heresy. 

On May 5, 161 6, Rome condemned the Copernican 
theory of the earth's revolution around the sun, cursing 
those who taught it and anathematizing those that printed 
it. In 1620 Copernicus was denounced byname. Galileo 
was imprisoned for teaching the same truth, and was com- 
pelled to recant, although in under breath he muttered the 
famous saying, " But it does move." His book, printed in 
1632, was condemned in 1634. Until the year 1835 every 
Catholic known to print this theory or even to have such a 
book in his house was excommunicated by Rome. 

And yet Pope Pius IX (died 1878) in his syllabus de- 
clares that " education outside of the Roman Catholic 
Church is a damnable heresy," and the Western Tablet 
(Chicago) says : " Let the public school go where it came 
from — the devil." 1 

122. Papal " Blessing." The papal claim of in- 
fallibility and superior sanctity has not been es- 
tablished. Papal anathema is not divine condemna- 
tion, and papal blessing may not be divine approval. 
From the great Spanish Armada which was pounded 
to pieces by the angry Atlantic, down to the smallest 
bogus relic from which an ardent disciple ever kissed 
a loathsome disease, Providence seems not to have 
honoured the " blessing " of Eome. 

XXI. — ONWARD TO THE REFORMATION 
" Lord, how long shall the wicked triumph? " (Psa. xciv. 3). 

123. Reform Movements. We have seen that 
Eome laid almost every plank in the platform of post- 

1 « The Devil in the Church," Beaver Springs, Pa., 1902, 3d ed., 
pp. 212, 214, 352, quoting Dr. McGlynn, the Freeman's Journal, 
and the « Shepherd of the Valley." This book is compiled from 
ninety-one reliable sources duly cited. 



114 THE LORD'S RETURN SEEN IN HISTORY 



niillennialism. And this was during a period in 
which moral corruption was appalling in its character 
and magnitude. While corruption was general, it 
was not universal ; there were traces of gold in hills 
of dross. Pure spirits prayed, ' * Thy kingdom come. " 
Here and there a pious Mystic sighed for the Saviour 
to return. Now and then bold leaders rallied thou- 
sands to cherish the hope that Christ would soon re- 
turn, and to live each day in readiness for the coming 
of the Bridegroom in the air. Special mention may 
be made of a few sects and movements. 

(a) The Apostolic Brothers were spiritual people who 
proclaimed chiliastic truths and preached evangelical doc- 
trines during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. 1 

(b) The White Brethren of Italy were Chiliasts. About 
1400 a. D. they donned white robes and marched against 
the Turks to regain the Holy Land. They were called 

penitents " ; marched in bodies often to forty thousand, 
singing and praying aloud ; were well supplied by dona- 
tions. Papal troops dispersed them. 2 They were com- 
posed of peasantry from the Alps, and were good but mis- 
guided people, and yet this movement made a profound 
impression. 

(c) The Swiss republics were formed (1315-1471) by 
revolts of oppressed people against their rulers. A loud 
protest arose against a corrupt Church. Chiliasm was 
sounded everywhere. In Germany "Poor Men" arose 
proclaiming the kingdom of God, free from oppressive 
taxes, cruel kings and corrupt priests. 

(d) In 1476 Hans Boheim gathered forty thousand 
peasants in a valley. These agitations developed into the 
Peasant Wars of Luther's time. 3 

(e) Historians relate many similar movements. In 
the twelfth century Bernard of Thuringia " produced a 



1 M, sup., II, 318. 

3 Blackburn," Ch. Hist.," p. 375. 



2 M, sup., II, 915. 



ONWARD TO THE REFORMATION 115 



wonderful commotion throughout the whole of Europe." 
Many believed that Christ would then return to Pal- 
estine. 1 These erratic movements awakened serious 
thought. 

(f) St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Burgundy, became a 
Mystic, 2 and was one of the holiest monks that ever lived. 
He laboured with tears to remove the corruption of Rome ; 
rejected many of its doctrines ; strove to repress persecu- 
tion ; declared that Antichrist sat " in St. Peter's chair as 
a lion prepared to his prey." 3 He longed for the Lord 
to come. He wrote : " Holy Lord, dost Thou call that 
« a little while' in which I shall see Thee ? Oh, this 
4 little ' is a long ' little while.' " 4 

THE EXPECTATION OF THE LORD'S RETURN BRINGS 
THE REFORMATION 

The blessed hope that the Lord will return brings 
us rapidly to the Great Reformation. Primitive re- 
ligion is revived and apostolic zeal is seen in action. 
Christ may come at any time. Arise, and hasten. 
Prominent characters in church history are in 
motion. 

124. Joachim of Floris (1130-1202), formerly 
Abbot of Calabria, resigns his position to study the 
Scriptures. He is a pre-millenarian. 5 Neander 
speaks of his " profound Christian feeling." 6 He 
was the greatest expounder of the middle age ; 
lectured before Richard Cceur de Lion ; 7 denounced 
Roman corruption, looking upon it with great grief ; 
opposed indulgences, the temporal power of the pope, 

1 M, I, 763. 

2 " Preachers who live as they preach" (Stier, M, IX, 1024). 
3 Taylor, "Voice," p. 31 1. 4 Brown, "Sec. Adv.," p. 31. 

*"Ency. Brit.," XVIII, 463; "New Inter'l," XII, 303 ; " UEP 
Ency." 

e « Ch. Hist.," IV, 220. ' El., IV, 376 ; M, IV, 921. 



116 THE LOED'S EETUEN SEEN IN HISTOEY 



and the deification of the Eoman Church. All his 
followers were called " heretics." 1 

The views of Joachim were taken up by Alnieric, 2 
Jean Pierre de Olive, and other distinguished 
leaders. 3 

" In the dawn of the Reformation, the views to which 
the reputation of the Abbot Joachim gave currency were 
taken up by the harbingers of the impending change, as 
by Wyclif (128) and others." 4 

125. Peter Waldo. Rome is Antichrist. Peter 
of Lyons (died 1179), now known as Peter Waldo, 5 
was a wealthy merchant who found God. His spirit 
was stirred within him. He cried, " Come out of 
Babylon." He looked for Christ to return. 

(a) He had the Gospels and the early Fathers trans- 
lated into French and given to the people. He was per- 
secuted, and anathematized by the pope. He distributed 
his wealth to the poor ; began street-preaching ; urged 
men to repent. His followers, going two by two, reading 
Scripture and preaching repentance, were called Humiliati, 
Leonists, Poor Men, and Sandal- wearers. Driven to the 
mountains, they flourished "pure as a flower amid the 
Alpine snows." They united with the Waldenses. 6 

(b) From every side the popes are branded as Anti- 
christ. Protestant leaders boldly called them Antichrist 
and regarded Rome as Babylon, 7 and numerous Roman 

1 M, IV, 921, 922. 

2 Prof, of Logic and Theology at Paris, 1 2th century. 

3 Elliott, IV, 416-418. 4 M, VIII, 1066. 
* M, X, 857 ; with 98. 

6 M, X, 857; Blackburn, " Ch. Hist.," p. 310; Schaff-Herzog, VII, 
375- 

7 Such as Arnold, founder of the Arnoldists (d. 1155); Peter de 
Bruys, the Petrobrusians (martyred 1126); Henry " the Whitefield 
of his age" (died in prison, chained, 1 148), founder of the Hen- 
ricians ; and numerous other sectaries, with Hubert de Casali, 
Matthew Paris, etc. (T, p. 312). 



ONWAED TO THE KEFOKMATION 117 



Catholic bishops made the same accusation. 1 St. Hilde- 
gard (died 1178), an apocalyptic Chiliast, denounced 
papal corruption from her cloister at Bingen on the Rhine ; 
and St. Elizabeth of Schonau (died 1165), a neighbour 
Chiliast, " lashed the corruptions of the clergy." 2 

126. Francis of Assisi and the Franciscan Spir- 
ituals. In the February number of the Ladies 1 Some 
Journal (1913) the aged Dr. Lyman Abbott pro- 
nounces a high eulogy upon Francis of Assisi (1182- 
1226). Francis and all of his followers were 
Chiliasts. 3 Dr. Abbott says : 

" At that hour of its degenerate wealth appeared Francis 
of Assisi. He cast away alike the luxuries and honours 
which wealth brings ; ... set himself and his fol- 
lowers to do Christ's work. . . . They left the 
church and the monastery for the fair and the market- 
place. They carried with them not only the glad tidings 
of the Father's love, but also illustrations of that love in 
their own practical work. They visited the sick, . . . 
lived in huts of mud and timber, . . . laid the 
foundations of England's future liberties." 4 

Francis and his followers stirred Europe with what 
Fisher calls "the great Franciscan revival." 5 It is 
said of Francis : 

"His eyes were like two fountains of tears, which were 
almost continually falling from them. . . . His words 
penetrated, like glowing fire, to the inmost depths of the 
heart." 6 He sounded repentance throughout Europe and 

1 Arnulph, Bishop of Orleans ; Gonthier, Cologne ; Tergard, 
Archb'p of Treves ; also Baronius and Genebrard, Roman Catholic 
historians; and others (quoted by Taylor, pp. 310, 311). 

2 Kurtz, " Ch. Hist.," II, 125, mentioning Mechthild of Magde- 
burg, Mechthild of Haclceborn (d. 13 10), Gertrude the Great 
(d. 131 1), with others who held the chiliastic views of Joachim. 

3 " Ency. Brit," XVIII, 463, ed. II. 4 Journal cited, p. 11. 
6 " Hist. Ch'n Doct.," p. 230. « M, HI, 648. 



118 THE LOED'S RETURN SEEN IN HISTOEY 



Great Britain ; preached and professed to enjoy purity of 
heart ; prayed with success for the healing of the sick. 1 

' < They went everywhere, and were like flames of fire 
wherever they went." 2 They called themselves " strangers 
and pilgrims in this world." 3 Their churches were " low, 
plain, and unadorned." 

The expectation of the imminent return of the Lord was, 
according to Harnack, the faith of 4 'all the numerous 
Franciscan spiritualists." 4 

By continued and humble persuasion Francis had 
obtained papal recognition in 1209, but the pope 
revised the rule. The Spirituals suffered brutal 
torture and awful persecution from 1236 to 1239. 
They were condemned as "heretics." 5 With holi- 
ness and Chiliasm purged out, and the papal element 
in absolute control, the Franciscans continue with a 
name to live. 

127. William Occam, of England (1270-1347), 
was a strong pre-millenarian 6 who rises before us as 
" the notable precursor of TVickliffe, Suss and Luther." 
An educated Franciscan of the original type, he 
taught theology in the university of Paris, and at 
Oxford, England. He was a pupil of John Duns 
Scotus. 7 

"He denounced without measure the avarice, the 
wealth, the corruption, the luxury, the worldliness, and the 
arrogancy of the pope and hierarchy." 8 

1 M, III, 648, 649. ■ " Univ. Cyclo.," IV, 507. 

3 Kurtz, II, 456. 

4 " Ency. Brit.," XVIII, 463. The " Spiritualism " of to-day is a 
Satanic caricature. 

5 M, III, 651; and Kurtz, " Ch. Hist.," II, 159, 160, 194, 198, 
452, 453, 457, 458. 

« " Ency. Brit.," XVIII, 463 ; " New Intern'l Cyclo.," XII, 303. 
7 Not the Scotus Erigena of the 9th century, 
s M, VII, 287. 



ONWAED TO THE EEFOEMATION 119 



He was thrown into dungeons and his writings were con- 
signed to the flames. 

128. Wickliffe or Wyclif. John Wyclif, of Eng- 
land (1324-1384), 4 'the morning star of the Eefor- 
mation," 1 wrote a book entitled i 6 The Last Age of the 
Church, " 2 which teaches Chiliasm 3 and denounces 
the covetousness of Eome. Papal bulls were hurled 
against him. He was " a man of enterprising genius 
and extraordinary learning." 4 He translated the 
Bible into English. He ' ' regarded the Eedeemer' s ap- 
pearing as the object of the hope and constant expec- 
tation of the Church of God. " 5 He escaped martyr- 
dom, but in 1428 his body was dug up and burnt. 6 
"John Huss and Jerome of Prague, espousing the 
views of Wyclif, perished at the stake." 7 Huss fol- 
lowed Wyclif in anti-Eomish doctrines. 8 Walden- 
sian reformers produced Wyclif. 9 (See page 116.) 

129. Sir John Oldcastle (Lord Cobham), who 
gave up his life in 1417, was called " the good," 10 and 
was the first martyr and first author among the no- 
bility of England. He was very learned ; adopted 
Wyclif 's doctrines and became his convert ; regarded 
the pope as Antichrist ; was " executed in the most 
barbarous manner, 1 ' being hung in chains and slowly 
roasted to death. 11 

1 M, X, 1040. 2 M, V, 494 ; X, 1040. 

3 Ibid., Prof. E. H. Gillett, D. D., University of New York. 
4 Mosheim, " Eccl. Hist.," 1,339. 5 LeBas, " Life," pp. 105- 107. 
6 M, X, 1043. 7 Presby. Review, 1864, p. 437. 

8 Kurtz, " Ch. Hist.," II, 205, 210. Huss was martyred in 1415. 
He lived in Bohemia, where Waldenses from Piedmont were numer- 
ous (" Living Epistle," 187 1, VI, 47), and where Peter Waldo died 
(M, X, 857). See M, VI, 581. 

9 M, III, 199 ; Elliott, II, 412, quoting authorities. 

10 M, VII, 332. « Ibid. 



20 THE LOED'S EETUEN SEEN IN HISTOEY 



130. Savonarola, Italy (1452-1498). While Eome 
lies on her lascivious couch dreaming of universal 
empire a spiritual giant appears in Italy. He sounds 
the bugle blast which marshals the Eeformation. 
He entered a Dominican convent for spiritual im- 
provement, and he left it with an equally good reason. 
In Alpine vales Waldensian children sang aloud the 
praise of their Eedeemer, and rejoiced in hope of His 
return. The ringing echoes never died away. The 
soul of Savonarola received a message. 

Savonarola preaches from the Apocalypse and the Old 
Testament prophecies ; warns of great tribulation, of wrath 
to come, of awful judgment, of "a storm that will shake 
the mountains " and which is now about to fall upon a 
corrupt and careless world. An electric storm will purify 
this world before the establishment of the kingdom. 

Thousands flock to hear him ; critics, coming to report 
his sermons, drop their pens and weep. Proud women 
lay off gay attire and march to the square in Florence where 
they stack their ornaments ; dishonest men restore ill-got- 
ten gains ; lifelong enemies embrace and weep ; games, 
bad company, corrupt books, masquerades, dances and 
circuses are shunned ; lewd monks bring vile literature and 
make a great bonfire. A mighty Pentecost revival il- 
luminates the land. Rome is stirred. 

Savonarola refuses the proffered bribe of a cardinal's hat, 
choosing rather to suffer martyrdom and sit with Christ on 
a judgment throne. He is excommunicated ; horribly tor- 
tured ; hanged until dead ; burnt to ashes ; sprinkled over 
the waters of the river Arno to prevent the resurrection of 
his body to reign with Christ in the kingdom to come. 1 
Elliott says he "spoke of the nearness of Christ's coming 
to take the kingdom," 2 and this same writer remarks that 
Rome held the opposite view of " the promised latter-day 
glory." 3 



1 M, IX, 385-387 ; Blackburn, " Ch. Hist.," pp. 366-372. 

3 " Horse Apoc," II, 130, 3 /^v. 



EEFOEMATION AND MAETYES 121 



Thus at the age of forty-six, shining in the bright, 
ness of his strength, Savonarola was extinguished by 
Eome. Joachim, Peter, Francis, Wyclif, Oldcastle 
and Savonarola have led us to the Eeformation. 



XX1L— THE REFORMATION AND THE MARTYRS 
"They haste to shed innocent blood " (ISA. lix. 7). 

131. The Period of the Reformation lies between 
the discovery of America in 1492 and the Peace of 
Westphalia in 1648. 1 In round numbers it dates from 
1500 to 1650. It brought no Millennium, but it 
brought light. It uncovered the corruption of Eome 
and revealed the way of salvation by faith. It gave 
birth to Protestantism. Every step of its progress 
was bitterly contested by Eome. As darkness dis- 
appears and purer faith is formulated the hope of the 
coming of the Lord becomes the inspiration of millions 
who seal their testimony with their blood. 

We shall follow some distinguished martyrs until 
their spirits sweep away. We shall see Eome cutting 
them down by the thousand until they wallow in their 
own blood. Then, after hearing the voice of Dr. 
Talmage, we shall return to walk on a safer path. 
Already have we seen the end of Wyclif and Oldcas- 
tle and Savonarola (128-130). 

132. William Tyndale (1480-1536) declared in 
early life that plowboys should have the Word of 
God. Educated at Oxford and Cambridge, he trans- 
lated the Bible into English in 1532. This celebrated 
English reformer was rewarded by strangulation and 

1 Myers, " Gen. Hist,," p. 519, ed. 1893. 



122 THE LOKD'S KETUKN SEEN IN HISTOEY 



burning to death at the stake. His Bible was the 
first edition of the Scriptures in the English language. 
From Tyndale's writings we glean these lines : 

"The Scripture hath but one sense, and that is the 
literal sense. . . . The greatest cause of this captivity 
and decay of faith and this blindness wherein we are now 
sprang first from allegories ; for Origen, and the doctors 
of his time, drew all the Scripture into allegory, inasmuch 
as that twenty doctors expounded one text in twenty dif- 
ferent ways." 1 

Concerning the Lord's return he writes: "We are 
commanded to look every hour for that day." 2 And 
again: "Christ and His Apostles taught no other, but 
warned to look for His coming again every hour. ' ' 3 

I 33- John Bradford, English chaplain to Ed- 
ward VI, was chained to a stake and burned in 
1555. He writes : 

"Covet not the things that are in this world, but long 
for the coming of the Lord Jesus . . . whose coming 
is now at hand. Let us look for it, and lift up our heads, 
for our redemption draweth nigh." 4 D. T. Taylor quotes 
Bradford at length. 5 

134. Nicholas Ridley, Bishop of London, perished 
over the flames in 1555. He was a learned man, and 
"a pattern of piety and humility." 6 He speaks of 
the time 

"When they shall say, 'Peace, all things are safe,' 
when Christ shall come to keep His great parliament, to 
the redress of all things that shall be amiss" 7 (2 Thess. 
v. 3). Again he writes : "Let us with John, the servant 

*" Works," I, 307; T, p. 141. 

2 " Expositions," 1849, P- l %5> Parker. 

3 "Answer to More," bk. IV, 8. 

4 " Letters," 1554; T, pp. 142, 143. 

s Ibid. 6 M, IX, 25, 26. 7 Parker ed., 1841, p. 116. 



EEFOEMATION AND MAETYES 123 



of God, cry in our hearts unto our Saviour Christ, ' Come, 
Lord Jesus, come ' " 1 (Rev. xxii. 20). 

135. Hugh Latimer (1470-1555), who burned with 
Eidley, wrote : 

"The Lord will not come until the swerving from 
faith cometh, which thing is already done and past. 
. . . Wherefore the day is not far off. . . . Let 
us not think of His coming as far off." 2 "When Paul 
thought that this day would come in his time, how 
much more shall we think that it shall be in our time. 
. . . Christ saith not in vain, * Watch, and pray ' : 
He would have us to be watchers, to have at all times in 
remembrance His coming." 3 

Latimer speaks, like Ridley, of a " parliament in which 
Christ shall bear rule," a kingdom "which the righteous 
pray for when they say, 'Thy kingdom come.' . . . 
Let us therefore have a desire that this day may come 
quickly ; let us hasten God forward ; let us cry unto Him 
day and night, ' Most merciful Father, Thy kingdom 
come ' " * (Matt. vi. 10). 

" Peradventure it may come in my days, old as I am, 
or in our children's days. . . . The saints ' shall be 
taken up to meet Christ in the air,' and so shall come down 
with Him again. ' He will put down Satan, that old 
Serpent, under our feet' " 3 (Rom. xvi. 20). 

136. Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556), an English 
archbishop who was imprisoned with Eidley and 
Latimer, recanted ; but, repenting, he was burned, 
holding forth the hand which signed the recantation, 
that it might burn first. He was a Hebrew, Greek, 
Latin, French, German and Italian scholar. 6 In the 

1 " Lamentation," T, p. 145. 

'"Sermons," Parker, pp. 172, 364, 365, ed. 1844. 

3 Ibid. % Parker ed., 1845 '» " Remains," pp. 59, 61. 

4 On Lord's Prayer, 3d Ser. 5 Parker ed., 1845, PP- 44-^4- 
6 M, II, 552. 



124 THE LOKD'S EETUEN SEEN IN HISTOBY 



Catechism of Edward VI (1550) he writes of Christ 
as the rock which shall reduce earthly kingdoms, 
destroy Antichrist, obtain the empire of the world, 
and reign here in dominion with His saints. 1 

Numerous other martyrs, equally worthy of men- 
tion, and from whom similar language might be 
quoted, we are obliged to pass. 

137. Albigenses— Cathari. The Eoman Inquisi- 
tion exterminated the Albigenses, who were Cathari, 2 
from the province of Albigeois, Southern France. 
They were descendents of the Montanists 3 and were 
branded as chiliastic heretics. They were good 
people. 

" Every one screening an Albigensian ' heretic ' forfeited 
all his property and his office. Houses where they sought 
refuge were levelled to the ground. In sickness all help 
was refused." 4 

138. Anabaptists and Moravian Brethren. These 
are people whom we shall meet again, but here we 
witness their persecution. Zurich, Switzerland, is 
the original home of Anabaptism. Without any 
exception, they were Chiliasts, and were extracted 
from the Waldenses. 5 They rejected infant baptism, 
were therefore re-baptized, and called Anabaptists. 
Multitudes were martyred by drowning, to give them 
enough of the water. 6 Italian Anabaptists and Mora- 
vian brethren of kindred faith were closely united 
in 1550. Francesco della Saga and Ginlio Gherardi, 

Quoted at length, T, pp. 148, 149. 2 See 110-112. 

3 See 58-61. 4 Kurtz, II, 138. 

5 Keller, by Kurtz, II, 394, 395; Keller (1885), "Reform, und 

alt Reformparteien," Ibid. 

6 Kurtz, II, 397. 



EEFOEMATION AND MAETYES 125 



who accomplished this union, were drowned in the 
Venice canal by order of the Inquisition. 1 

(a) In 1 53 1 the Moravian Anabaptists, with James 
Huter as their leader, were called "the quiet of the 
land." They were "pious, strict, earnest, industrious, 
conscientious," and "courageous and uncompromising 
under torture," showing "unexampled patience and gen- 
tleness amid all sufferings." 2 They were a holy people. 

(b) They insisted upon regeneration ; preached repent- 
ance and entire santification ; were very unworldly; were 
said to "frown at any mirth in company"; 3 and were 
charged "with thirteen heresies, of which not a single 
society believed one word."* 

They were desolated by terrible persecution. (See Cari- 
catures, 167.) 

The Bohemian and Moravian Brethren, firmly 
allied with the Anabaptists, held the same faith rela- 
tive to the pre-millennial return of Christ, as we shall 
subsequently observe. 5 Thousands of them perished 
by imprisonment, torture and martyrdom. 6 As late 
as 1722-1729 we see them fleeing to Herrnhut, known 
as the " Watch of the Lord," 7 rejoicing to escape 
with their lives after all their property had been 
confiscated. 8 

139. The Huguenots. The French Huguenots 
were Chiliasts, 9 and a very spiritual people. The 
Camisards and the French Prophets — rustic, plain, 
pious and chiliastic — who flourished after the Eefor- 
mation, may be mentioned at this juncture. 

140. The Camisards, French Huguenots who 
were so called because of their extremely plain 

1 Kurtz, II, 401. 2 Ibid., II, 399. 

8 Bp. Bull's "Works," II, 657. 4 M, I, 211. 6 See 146, 212. 
6 M, VI, 582. ' See 212. 8 M, VI, 586. 

»M, II, 55; others; " Cyclo. Relig. Knowl.," Sanford, p. 612. 



126 THE LOKD'S EETUEN SEEN IN HISTOEY 



clothes, were loud in their expressions of chiliastic 
hope. 1 They attracted special attention about the 
year 1700. 

They professed to have the Holy Ghost ; they " stag- 
gered, fell, shut their eyes, heaved their breasts, shouted." 
In 1702 many were put to death by torture; leaders were 
burned alive in 1775; others were "broken on the 
wheel." In their houses and on the hills their cries to 
God for mercy upon lost souls resounded over the land. 2 

Rome sent monks to convert them. They were numer- 
ous among the Cevennes Mountains of Southern France, 
where the "Poor of Lyon," the Albigenses and the 
Waldenses sought refuge. Cruelly persecuted, the Cami- 
sard peasants were "extinguished in blood." 3 Evervinus, 
who executed many, wondered how those "members of 
the devil " could endure their torment "with joy and 
gladness." * 

141. French Prophets, precursors of the Irving- 

ites, 6 were Camisard refugees who came to England 
in 1706. They believed that Christ was coming very 

soon. 6 

They had the Holy Ghost; great internal divine joy 
and satisfaction ; strong spirit of prayer ; faith for divine 
healing ; zeal to carry the Gospel to every nation. Sir 
Richard Bulkeley, Lady Jane Forbes, and other prominent 
persons, were followers. Samuel Keimer came to America 
with the Quakers. 7 

John Wesley, who preached to " Jumpers " and " French 
Prophets " in the highlands, found them professing holi- 
ness. Without condemning them, he mentions unusual 
actions: "Frequently three or four, yea, ten or twelve, 
pray aloud altogether. . . . Several drop down as stiff 
as a corpse ; but in a while they start up, and cry, * Glory ! 

1 M, II, 55. 2 Ibid. 3 » Cham. Ency.," II, 191. 

4 M, I, 134. 5 See 163 ; M, III, 662. « Ibid. 

?M, III, 661, 662. 



EEFOEMATION AND MARTYES 127 



glory ! ' perhaps twenty times together. ' ' 1 Their religious 
fervour was intense, but their lives were unassailable. 

142. St. Bartholomew's Day, August 24 7 1572, 
will never be forgotten. Let us go back to Paris in 
Eeformation days. Here are the fathers of the people 
we have just seen. They are chiliastic and spiritual. 
Eorne secretly plans their extermination. The nick- 
name, "Huguenots," denoted "the vile condition of 
the Protestants." 2 

(a) The massacre, secretly planned, was horribly ex- 
ecuted. A bell sounds ; executioners, like firemen, leap 
forth in the night ; Coligni, the Huguenot leader, is 
stabbed to death, then beheaded, thrown into the street, 
kicked, dragged and hung up by the feet. When his door 
burst open, he exclaimed, " I have long been ready to 
die." Blood ran in the streets ; thousands perished that 
night; and within two months 70,000 were slain. Some 
estimate 100,000. 

" Rome was thrown into a delirium of joy at the news," 
and in Spain, the home of the Inquisition, Philip II 
" laughed for the first and only time in his life." The 
massacre was celebrated annually. 

(b) Voltaire, the noted French infidel, protested 
vigorously against Rome's persecution of the Huguenots. 3 

143. The Inquisition disposed of hundreds of 
thousands of God's precious saints. In six years the 
Duke of Alva executed 18,600 "reformers" and 
"heretics" in Spain (1567-1573). 4 Methods of 
torture employed were shocking in the extreme. 
The sword of Eome dripped with human blood. 
Multitudes recanted, but millions died as martyrs. 

1 " Works," London, 1830, ed. 3, IV, 329. 2 M, IV, 391. 

3 M, III, 661; IV, 391-397; Kurtz, II, 328, 329. Women and 
children were tortured to death; places of worship were burned. 
4 Kurtz, II, 323. 



128 THE LORD'S RETURN SEEN IN HISTORY 



Albert Barnes computes that since the rise of the Papacy 
4 'not fewer than fifty millions of persons have been put to 
death on account of religion." 1 Berg carefully estimates 
that 68,500,000 men, women and children have been 
martyred by Rome. 2 Dr. Beaumont exclaims: "What 
seas of blood have been shed ! If their bodies were piled 
in one heap, they would be bigger than any mountain in 
the world!" 3 

144. Dr. Talmage. Where can language be found 
to frame an adequate expression as we meditate upon 
the record of Rome ? 

We appeal to T. DeWitt Talmage : 

" We cannot compete in bitterness with a Church that 
burned John Oldcastle, and scattered the ashes of Wick- 
liffe, and massacred the Waldenses, and roasted over slow 
fires Nicholas Ridley, and had medals struck in honour of 
St. Bartholomew's massacre, and took God's dear children 
and cut out their tongues, and poured hot lead into their 
ears, and tore out their nails with pincers, and let water 
fall upon their heads until it wore to the brain, and 
wrenched their bodies limb from limb, and into the wine- 
press of its wrath threw the red clusters of a million human 
hearts, till under the trampling of their feet the blood 
foamed to the lip of their imperial chalices." 4 

And this is the Church that banished primitive 
Christianity, buried Chiliasm, and revelled in dark- 
ness for a thousand years, and which now is spread- 
ing its net to try to capture the land of the free and 
the home of the brave. 

' " Notes, Revelation," p. 323. 

3 " Lectures on Romanism," pp. 6, 7. 

3 Foster, " Cyclo. of Illustrations," prose, p. 4403. 

4 " The Devil in the Church," pp. 262, 263. (See 121, note.) 



SECTION V.— THE EEVIVAL OF THE PEIMI- 
TIVE FAITH LIES AT THE FOUNDATION 
OF PEOTESTANTISM, BEINGING THE 
EEFOEMATION AND FLOUEISHING UN- 
TIL THE PEESENT DAY 



XXIII. — DOCTRINAL AND DENOMINATIONAL 
DEVELOPMENT 

" Let us hold fast the confession of our hope (&xido$) without 
wavering" (Heb. x. 23). 

145. The Augsburg Confession. Duffield has 
told us that "the doctrine of a millennium before 
the advent of Christ is not to be found in the stand- 
ards of any of the Churches of the Eeformation ; by- 
several it is expressly repudiated." 1 Even Whitby, 
the father of modern post-millennialism, affirms the 
fact. 2 

The Confession of Augsburg, June 25, 1530, was 
the Protestant confession of faith. It is the acknowl- 
edged creed of the greatest theologians in all the 
world. It repudiates post-millennial doctrine, and 
condemns also that caricature of true Chiliasm put 
forth by apostate Anabaptists (167). 3 It condemns 
those notions that, prior to the resurrection of the 
dead, the pious will engross the government of the 
world.* 

1 See 18 n. 2 
3 Dr. Semisch, " Old Herzog Real-Ency.," art., " Chiliasmus," 
p. 663. 

4 " Augustana," Art. xvn. 

129 



130 THE LOED'S EETURN SEEN IN HISTOEY 



(a) Peter Hall, in his " Harmony of the Confessions," 
translates from the Augsburg Confession: "They [the 
churches] condemn others also, which spread abroad 
Jewish opinions, that, before the resurrection of the dead, 
the godly shall get the sovereignty in the world, and the 
wicked be brought under in every place." 

SchafT confirms this translation in his " Creeds of 
Christendom," which reads in part: "They condemn 
others also, who now scatter abroad Jewish opinions, that, 
before the resurrection of the dead, the godly shall occupy 
the kingdom of the world, the wicked being everywhere 
suppressed." 1 

(b) Melancthori s explanation. In his "Varieta" of 
1 531, Melancthon, who wrote the "Confession," explains 
the Seventeenth Article in these words : " The Church in 
this life is never to attain to a position of universal triumph 
and prosperity, but is to remain depressed, and subject to 
afflictions and adversities, until the time of the resurrection 
of the dead." 2 

146. " The Bohemian Brethren " whom we have 
seen among the Anabaptists and who were then intro- 
duced as Moravians, 3 we meet again. Schaff attrib- 
utes to them the authorship of the " Noble Lesson,' J 
which we have seen and examined.* That these Bo- 
hemian Brethren are Waldenses is clearly established 
by the " Lissa Folios" at Herrnhut. 5 Denomina- 
tionally, they are Moravians, but many are not so 
designated until we find them at Herrnhut. 6 They 
looked for the pre-millennial return of the Lord. 7 
They were holy people. 

1 Harper ed., N. Y., 1877, HI, 18. 

a " Corpus Reformatorum," XXVI, 361. 3 See 138. 

4 See 105, 106. 5 M, VI, 222. See Kurtz, II, 475-477. 

6 See 212. 

? Dr. Semisch, « Old Schaff-Herzog " (1894), HI, 1515 ; " Cath. 
Ency.," X, 309. 



DENOMINATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 131 



(a) The " Catholic Cyclopedia " brands the Bohemian 
and Moravian Brethren as "apocalyptic fanatics and mys- 
tics." 1 Their first bishops were ordained by the Waldenses. 2 
Their celebrated Bishop Comenius, who was highly edu- 
cated, was not only a strong Chiliast 3 in faith, but also 
an extensive writer in support of the doctrine of the 
personal reign of Christ on earth during the Millennium. 

(b) This was the faith of John Milicz of Kremsier, 
Moravia, who died in 1374. He hastened the Bohemian 
Reformation. Although he was secretary of Charles IV, 
king of Bohemia, he resigned that honour and comfort, 
selected repentance as his theme, and preached three to 
five times daily. Multitudes thronged to hear him and 
scores were saved from the lowest depths of sin. 4 

(c) Gregory, the Bohemian "Patriarch," was very 
puritanical in his views. He forbade luxury and the 
keeping of inns; urged Christians to keep themselves 
" unspotted from the world " and to live pure, holy lives. 
He was frightfully tortured to death in 1473. He had de- 
nounced the corruption of the age and looked for the return 
of the Lord 5 (Jas. i. 27). 

147. Mennonites. Simon Menno (1496-1561), of 
Germany, was truly a " shining light" in the holi- 
ness world. " He was a man of gentle, earnest, mod- 
est and spiritual nature." 6 He organized the Ana- 
baptists who had been scattered by persecution, and 
became the founder of the Mennonites. " They were 

1 " Cath. Ency.," X, 309. a M, VI, 222. 

3 « Cham. Ency.," 1901, VII, 199 ; " New Inter'l," XII, 303; and 
others. 

4 M, VI, 256; Kurtz, « Ch. Hist.," II, 206. Keller (« Reforma- 
tion und alt Reformparteien," 1885) links together the Petrobrusians ; 
Apostolic Brothers; Arnoldists ; Humiliati; Lollards; Spirituals; 
Marsilius of Padua and King Louis of Bavaria ; German Mystics ; 
Friends of God ; Dutch Brethren of the Common Life ; Waldenses ; 
Bohemian and Moravian Brethren (Kurtz, « Ch. Hist.," II, 394, 
395). The holy people are Chiliasts. See Cornell's " Hist. Penn- 
sylvania," Phil., 1876, pp. 205, 206, 390. 

5 M, III, 998. « « cham. Ency.," old ed., IV, 498. 



132 THE LOED'S BETUBN SEEN IN HISTOEY 



certainly among the most pious Christians the Church 
ever saw. " 1 They believed that Christ will return 
and reign personally during the Millennium. 2 

In Moravia they numbered 70,000. In 1622 they were 
scattered by persecution. In 1711, 1717, 1727 and 1733 
great numbers came to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. 
May the author here dedicate a line to the memory of his 
paternal grandmother who was numbered with these settlers? 
Her life was holy ; her death was triumphant. 

148. Reformers. The early Eeformers believed 
in the imminent and pre-millennial return of the 
Lord. This was the faith of the radical element of 
the early Protestants. 3 

Albert Barnes says : " The Reformers, in interpreting the 
Prophecies, learned to connect the downfall of the Papacy 
with the coming of Christ, and with His universal reign 
upon earth, and as they saw evidence of the approach of 
the former, they naturally anticipated the latter as about 
to occur." 4 

Martin Luther (1483-1546), "dreading lest the end of 
the world should arrive before he had translated the Bible, 
published the prophecies of Daniel separately." 5 (See 19.) 

149. Puritans. Under Queen Elizabeth and the 
Stuarts the Protestants of England longed for the re- 
turn of the Lord and the setting up of His millennial 
reign on earth. 6 Elizabeth, reigning from 1558 to 
1603, defended the Protestants. Chiliasm is found 

iM, VI, 95. 

3 Ibid. ; also Mosheim's " Hist," V, 497 ; T, p. 352 ; all others. 
»"Ency. Brit.," ed. 9, XVI, 318; " Univ. Cyclo.," VIII, 129. 

4 " Notes on Revelation," p. 292. 

5 D'Aubigne's " Hist. Augsburg Confession," Book xiv. Luther, 
and a few others, seem to have expected the complete destruction 
of the earth. " Learned Chiliasts flourished during the Thirty 
Years' War" (1618-1648) .— " Cham. Ency., New," VII, igg. 

« Kurtz, III, 60 ; Hurst, " Ch. Hist.," I, 239. 



DENOMINATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 133 



in the liturgies and prayers of this period. 1 The 
Puritans were modern Novatians and Cathari (62-64, 
110-112). They looked for the speedy return of 
Christ. 

(a) The faith of the Puritans concerning the imminent 
return of the Lord was strengthened by Dutch Ana- 
baptist refugees at Norwich. In 1572 the " prophesy ings " 
of the Puritans ' 'were rigorously suppressed." 2 Thou- 
sands went to Holland. In 1620 the "Pilgrim Fathers " 
crossed the Atlantic on the Mayflower and landed at 
Plymouth Rock. Roger Williams, strong in this faith, 
followed in 1631. The "Lectures of Joshua Spalding " 
(257), the "Life of Cotton Mather" (254), with "Bar- 
ber's Historical Collections," show how Chiliasm nourished 
in the American colony. The English Puritans became 
the founders of the Independents, Presbyterians and Bap- 
tists of Great Britain. 

(b) The Baptist Confession of Faith, in 1660, signed 
by all their leaders and approved by 20,000 disciples 
of the Baptist denomination, was a declaration of doc- 
trines " for which we are not only resolved to suffer 
persecution to the loss of our goods, but also life itself, 
rather than decline from the same." This faith included 
a strong avowal of Chiliasm. D. T. Taylor quotes the 
full text of Articles xx-xxiv, inclusive. Article xxn is 
definite and positive. 3 

Similar evidence can be adduced to show the prevalence 
of this faith among the early Presbyterians (162). 

150. Independents. The Independents were Puri- 
tans, and were known as Non-conformists and Free 
Church people. They were very spiritual, and bit- 

1 Parker ed., 1847, p. 504, reads: "We may justly look for the 
coming of our Saviour." Also 185 1 ed., p. 516; Hurst, I, 239. 
3 Kurtz, II, 375. 

3 Kurtz, 11,376; III, 61,71; M, VIII, 804-811, 989; T, pp. 201- 
203, 224; Crosby, "Hist. Baptists," II, Appen., 85-87; Irving, 
" Dialogues Proph.," II, 269 ; and T, pp. 277, 288, 289, 292. G. C. 
Lorimer, " Baptists in Hist.," p. 50. 



134 THE LOED'S EETUEN SEEN IN HISTORY 



terly persecuted. 1 Oliver Cromwell (1559-1658) and 
the Independents were Chiliasts. 2 

" The irresistible advance of Cromwell's army, composed 
mostly of Independents, made it appear as if the Millennium 
was close at hand. Thus Chiliasm came to be a funda- 
mental principle of Independency." 3 "The greatest 
statesmen of England were Independents." 4 

Relentless persecution forced the resort to arms. Crom- 
well and his religious army of Puritans abstained from 
swearing, drinking, and every bad habit. The officers 
were Independents ; all the men were Puritans. They 
read the Bible, prayed, and sang hymns. They despatched 
relief to Huguenots and Waldenses. 5 Myers cannot speak 
with favour of the campaign of Cromwell in England, but 
he makes excuse for the atrocity of Rome when Coligni 
and 100,000 Huguenots are tortured to death on the soil of 
France. 6 Carlyle and other writers, however, vindicate 
Cromwell who delivered his country from the grasp of 
Rome. 

"Fifth Monarchy Men," ardent Chiliasts, 7 composed 
the majority in Cromwell's Short Parliament of 1653, 
which sat five months. They " spent much of their time 
in Scripture exegesis, prayer, and exhortation." 8 After 
Cromwell's death, Rome came back with vengeance. In 
1 66 1, under Charles II, a number of the " Fifth Monarchy 
Men " were executed as 1 ' madmen." They have been 
unreasonably caricatured. 

151. The Westminster Assembly, convened by 
Parliament in 1643, and composed of 151 learned and 
godly men, was directed to frame the doctrines of the 
Church of England. Pre-millennial faith was found 

1 Stoughton, " Eccl. Hist.," England, II, 164. 

* Kurtz, III, 16, 497. 3 Ibid., Ill, 60. •* M, IV, 545. 

6 Myers, " Hist.," ed. 1906, pp. 586-592. 

6 Ibid., ed. 1893, PP- 57 6 , 577, 613. 

7 " Cham. Ency.," 1901, VII, 199. 

8 Myers, Ibid., 1893, p. 615. 



DENOMINATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 135 



to be very strong. 1 Eobert Baillie, president of the 
University of Glasgow, said of this assembly : 
"Most of the chief divines here, not only Inde- 
pendents, but others, such as Twiss, Marshall, 
Palmer, and many more are express Chiliasts." 2 
William Twiss was president of the assembly. 
The following lines are from the Westminster stand- 
ard : 3 

On the coming of the Lord. — " So will He have that 
day unknown to men, that they may shake off all carnal 
security, and be always watchful, because they know not at 
what hour the Lord will come." 

Shorter Catechism ; the Lord's Prayer. — " In the second 
petition we pray that Satan's kingdom may be destroyed, 
and that the kingdom of grace may be advanced, our- 
selves and others brought into it, and that the kingdom of 
glory may be hastened." 

Larger Catechism. — " We pray that Christ would 
hasten the time of His second coming." 

In the Directory of Public Worship ministers pray for 
" the fall of Antichrist, and the hastening of the second 
coming of the Lord." 

152. Mystics. Stier has defined Mystics as 
' i preachers who lived as they preached. " * They 
professed to enjoy inner heart experience in God ; 5 
they magnified the Holy Spirit ; they were strong in 
the pre-millennial faith. 6 

I 53- Jacob Boehme (1575-1624), an eminent 

1 Schaff-Herzog, VII, 377 ; " New Chambers Ency.," VII, 199 ; 
T, p. 188. 

2 " Letter 117," II, 156, quoted by Taylor, p. 188. 

3 Taylor, " Voice," p. 351. 4 M, IX, 1024. 

5 " Univ. Cycle," VIII, 336; "Ency. Diet," III, 3242. 

6 "Cham. Ency.," 1901, VII, 199; Schaff-Herzog, VII, 378; 
"New Inter'l," p. 303; T, p. 221 (196). See Hagenbach, "Hist. 
Doctrines," N. Y., 1863, II, 370. 



136 THE LOED'S EETUKN SEEK IN HISTOEY 



German Mystic, wrote much on prayer, repentance, 
and the return of the Lord. He was a Chiliast. 1 

Boehrae was a versatile writer, a student of prophecy, 
and a very holy man. His death was one of the most 
triumphant departures ever known. The glory of heaven 
opened before him and he expressed surprise that his 
family around him could not hear " the excellent music." 
" Open the door," he exclaimed, "that it may be better 
heard." 

Charged with heresy and fanaticism, six eminent theolo- 
gians and two professors of mathematics appointed by the 
Elector of Hanover made a thorough inquiry. " None of 
these doctors and professors returned one word of dislike 
or contradiction." 2 

His writings were read and admired by William Law 
and Sir Isaac Newton (155, 282). 

154. " Philadelphians." " The Philadelphia So- 
ciety," of England, " contributed largely to the 
spread of that mystical piety which is so conspicuous 
in the works of the good and learned William Law, 
and which affected in no small degree the early stages 
of Methodism." 3 

Jane Leade (1623-1702), an English disciple of Jacob 
Boehme, was converted at nineteen, became a follower of 
secret prayer, and was known as an ardent Chiliast.* In 
1695 she founded the " Philadelphia Society," which soon 
reached a membership of more than a hundred. John 
Pordage, who held prayer-meetings and who claimed to 
have communion with the Holy Ghost, was a member. 5 
Thomas Bromley, author of the " Sabbath of Rest," to- 
gether with Frances Lee, Dr. Lot Fisher and numerous 
others of prominence were members. 6 

The influence of Jane Leade reached Germany and Hol- 

> Schaff-Herzog, VII, 376 ; see M, I, 842 ; VI, 802. 

3 M, I, 842. 3 M, VIII, 80. 

* M, Ibid., Schaff-Herzog, VII, 376. 

* M, VIII, 418. e Mj vill, 80, 418. 



DENOMINATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 137 



land, where many societies were formed. These societies, 
dispersed by persecution, were gathered by Zinzendorf 
(212) into his Moravian institution at Herrnhut, "the 
Watch of the Lord." 1 

155. William Law (1686-1761), the distinguished 
English Mystic, was a disciple of Jacob Boehnie, 
whose works he translated, and whose doctrines he 
taught. 2 

Law's " Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life," pub- 
lished in 1729, was of great value to John Wesley, as 
acknowledged by the father of Methodism in his "Chris- 
tian Perfection." "The rationalistic Gibbon, the liberal 
Macaulay, the pious John Wesley, and the morose Samuel 
Johnson, were of one mind in their praise of William Law." 3 

156. Peter Poiret quoted. Paul Felgenhauer, a 
Bohemian Protestant Mystic who wrote forty-six 
books, declaimed against worldliness, taught Chiliasm, 
and suffered persecution, 4 is worthy of mention to- 
gether with many others whom we must pass in order 
to have time to hear from a prominent writer of 
Mystic doctrines. We refer to Peter Poiret (1646- 
1719), a French Mystic of eminent piety. He was a 
learned man and a prolific writer. He expounded 
the doctrines of Antoinette Bourignon (1616-1680), 
translated the works of John Tauler (1290-1361) and 
Thomas a Kempis (1380-1471), and published all the 
writings of Madam Guyon (1648-1717). The matter 
here quoted is from Poiret' s " Divine Economy," 5 a 
six volume work to which citations refer. 

1 M, V, 304. 2 « ijniv. Cy.," VII, 98 ; " Cham. Ency." 

3 M, V, 295 ; Wesley, « Sermons," I, 175 ; II, 297, 308. 

4 M, III, 521 :« UEP Ency." 

5 " The Divine Economy ; or, a Universal System of the Works 
and Purposes of God towards Men Demonstrated," by Peter Poiret, 
London, 17 13. 



138 THE LOED'S EETUEN SEEN IN HISTOEY 



(a) " The third thing that Christ by Revelation made 
known to man is the confirmation of His glorious king- 
dom ; that He would shortly come upon earth, and utterly 
root out all evil, and there reign with His children glori- 
ously in body, soul and divinity. . . . The writings 
of the Apostles are full of the same truth, and they are 
perpetually drawing motives from it to encourage men to 
do well, and suffer any hardship in the narrow way. How 
often do St. Paul, St. Peter and St. John beseech them by 
the glorious appearing of Jesus Christ." — IV, 64, 6$. 

(b) " Observe how, when our Saviour was come in the 
flesh, Satan imagined that this glorious reign of the Son of 
God was then to begin, and cried out trembling, 'Art Thou 
come to torment us before the time? ' (Matt. ix. 29). And 
because he knows that the less men expect this glorious 
coming, and this magnificent triumph of the Son of God 
upon earth, they will the less be prepared for it, and that 
therefore the reign of hell will last the longer; and this 
spirit of the devil leaves nothing unattempted to discredit 
and blot out of men's thoughts this long and glorious em- 
pire of Christ upon earth." — IV, 252. 

(c) "Let us therefore say, That Christ will come and 
reign with His saints a thousand years on earth. All the 
promises of God are in Him, Yea and Amen. . . . 
He does not promise great matters and perform little or 
nothing." — IV, 253. 

(d) " Many that have been accounted heretics, se- 
ducers, fools and mad, fanatics, enthusiasts, and abomina- 
ble creatures, that have been persecuted, defamed and had 
their very bones burned after they were dead, shall shine 
the brightest among the children of that blessed resurrec- 
tion " (382).— /r, 259. 

(e) Poiret taught that (1) when the Lord returns with 
His resurrected saints the wicked will be thrown into the 
pit of destruction ; (2) they will have experienced plagues 
worse than Egypt ever saw; (3) "Death and Hell" con- 
tain the wicked only, and they are given up for judgment 
at the end of the Millennium (388-419).— IV, 263-268. 

157. The Pietists. In the seventeenth century 



DENOMINATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 139 



Protestantism deteriorated into formalism. i i Pietism 
was its corrective." 1 The " Pietists," so called by 
way of reproach, defended the Mystics. 2 Professor 
Worman, Drew Librarian, remarks that in almost 
every respect they were like the Methodists. 3 They 
taught holiness, adorned this doctrine by their lives, 
and were Chiliasts.* 

(a) Holiness. They taught that Christians may and 
must in this life become free from sin ; they taught entire 
sanctification ; made purity of heart and life essential to 
salvation. 5 

(b) Radical principles. They preached against popu- 
lar sins; despised lukewarmness and formality; urged 
praying and singing. They turned away from worldly 
amusements, games, plays, dances, theatre going, feasts, 
jesting, and the wearing of fashionable attire. 6 

(c) Education and missions. They founded Halle 
where in thirty years 6,034 theologians were trained. 
Missionary zeal was intense ; the Gospel was carried every- 
where, heralds going in large numbers to Jewish and Mo- 
hammedan lands. The Berleburg Bible, with notes, was 
prepared by Pietists and Mystics ; it taught Chiliasm and 
holiness. 7 It was published in eight volumes. 

Pietism was propagated in Wurtemburg by Bengel 
(264) and in Moravia by Zinzendorf (212). Herrnhut 
became the centre of the Pietists. 8 Spener (241), Francke 
(242), Oetinger (258) and Hahn (220) were prominent 
Pietists. 

158. The Friends, or Quakers, founded by George 
Fox (62) of England in 1624, are a plain, humble, 

1 Kurtz, II, 230. 2 m, VIII, 193, 194. 3 Ibid. 

4 Schaff-Herzog, VII, 376; « Ency. Brit," ed. n, XVIII, 463 ; 
Kurtz, III, 106, 176, 307 ; T, p. 221; and others. 

6 M, VIII, 192-195 ; Kurtz, III, 106. 

« Gieseler, " Ch. Hist.," N. Y., 1880, V, 289 ; Kurtz, III, 106. 

7 Schaff-Herzog, VII, 376; Kurtz, III, 133. 

8 M, VIII, 194; "Univ. Cycle," art. " Zinzendorf." 



140 THE LOED'S EETUEN SEEN IN HISTOEY 



peace-loving people. They pray in secret, search the 
Scriptures, and rear their children in the nurture and 
admonition of the Lord. They turn away from war ; 
decline to take oaths j have suffered much persecu- 
tion. Like the early Montanists they honour the 
Holy Spirit and look for the pre-millennial return of 
the Lord. 1 William Penn, remembering how many 
of his brethren had been slain for their faith, founded 
" Philadelphia," the City of Brotherly Love. After 
him Pennsylvania is named. The Anabaptists of 
Holland and the Mennonites of Pennsylvania were 
closely attached to the Friends. 2 

159. " Shaking Quakers." 

In 1746 James Wardley, a Huguenot, formed a society 
in England consisting chiefly of Quakers. He was a strong 
exponent of Chiliasm. On account of their demonstrations 
they were called "Shaking Quakers." Ann Lee became 
a leading spirit in the movement. She believed that the 
saints of God might at any time be caught up to meet the 
Lord in the air. She was a Chiliast. She was cruelly 
defamed, bitterly persecuted, and often imprisoned. She 
opposed the wearing of fashionable attire. She was pow- 
erful in prayer. She came to America and formed many 
societies. 3 

160. Episcopalians. It is admitted by a very able 
English post-millennial writer that Chiliasm is the 
faith of " more than half the evangelical clergy of 
the Church of England." 4 Its highest officers, arch- 
bishops and bishops, have been strong advocates of 

1 Hurst, " Ch. Hist.," I, 239 ; M, VI, 526; VIII, 306. See Mon- 
tanists (58-64). 

2 Small, " Corner Stones of Faith," p. 403. 

3 M, V, 319, 320; "American Cyclo.," XI, 550. 

4 M, VI, 266, quoting " The End of All Things." 



DENOMINATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 141 



pre-niillennial doctrine. 1 In the United States the 
Episcopalian Bishops Mcllvaine, Hopkins, Chase, 
Henshaw and others were strong Chiliasts. 2 

(a) From the English Episcopalian Burial Ritual these 
lines are taken: ' 'Beseeching Thee, that it may please 
Thee of Thy gracious goodness shortly to accomplish the 
number of Thine elect, and to hasten Thy kingdom." 3 ^ 
The Church in the United States has omitted the words 
quoted. (See Methodism, 173-208.) 

(b) ' 1 Reformed Episcopalians. ' ' Puseyism entered the 
English Church, and Rome secured many proselytes from 
the Protestant ministry. At a conference held in New 
York City in 1873 Puseyite preachers made a violent 
attack upon Bishop Cummins of Kentucky because the 
latter assisted in the administration of the Lord's Supper 
in a Presbyterian Church. Cummins and twenty-five 
other Episcopal preachers organized the "Reformed 
Episcopal Church." 4 

Dr. E. B. Pusey (post) is a professor in Oxford. He is 
a Roman Catholic in a Protestant mask. Through his 
influence, many preachers have gone over to Rome's em- 
brace. He insists that the Church of England is bound 
to recognize the preeminence and power of the pope over 
all other authority. 5 

" The Reformed Episcopalians have incorporated the 
pre-millennial advent into their articles of faith." 6 

161. Plymouth Brethren are Chiliasts. 7 Daniel 
Steele writes against their Calvinistic doctrines, and 
also against their Chiliasm. 8 As English Separatists 
they date their origin from 1820. They lament the 
general failure to recognize the Holy Spirit; are 

1 Taylor, pp. 352, 353. 2 p. 353; and see 232, 285, 286. 
3 Full quotations, T, p. 353. 4 Kurtz, « Ch. Hist," III, 41 1. 
5 M, VIII, 816-818. e " Biblio. Sacra," 1888, XLV, 253. 

7 Schaff-Herzog, VII, 376; " Cham. Ency.," VII, 200, ed. 1901 ; 
M, VIII, 306. 

8 " Ant. Revived." 



142 THE LOKD'S EETUEN SEEN IN HISTOKY 



distinguished by their missionary zeal, their sim- 
plicity of worship, their earnest and self-denying 
spirit. 1 

John Darby was their founder. George Miiller (301) 
and C. H. Mcintosh were Plymouth Brothers ; also 
Tregelles (274), the eminent exegete. 

162. The Old Scotch Presbyterian Church, 

which is the established Church of Scotland, watched 
for the pre-millennial return of the Lord. 

From the ritual for public worship her ministers pray for 
"the fall of Antichrist and the hastening of the second 
coming of our Lord," and for a "watching for the coming 
of our Lord Jesus Christ." 2 

163. The Catholic Apostolic Church was born 

in England in 1832. A general spirit of prayer, 
promoted by Eev. I. Haldane Stewart, of the Church 
of England, and more especially the preaching of 
Edward Irving (1792-1834) and the memoirs of 
Mary Campbell, were the agencies which led to its 
organization. They are known as Irvingites. They 
are Chiliasts. 3 

Irving, "the great London preacher," was a man of 
matchless eloquence, unequalled since his day except by 
Spurgeon. The salvation of souls was his burning theme. 
All Christians, even children, were to have the baptism 
and power of the Holy Ghost. 

Miss Mary Campbell experienced a remarkable conver- 
sion ; taught that the Comforter was for all generations ; 
the Holy Ghost came mightily upon her ; she witnessed 
numerous instances of divine healing. 

The services of the Irvingites are very ritualistic. The 
popularity of Irving declined when he became a strong 

1 M, VIII, 306. 2 Quoted by T, pp. 353, 354. 

3 S-H., VII, 376; « Cham. Ency.," VII, 200; M, II, 160; Elliott, 
IV, 521. 



DENOMINATIONAL DEVELOPMENT 143 



exponent of the "gift of tongues." Chalmers and Cole- 
ridge, ardent admirers, shared his advent views, but they 
rejected the " tongues." 1 

164. The Church of God is committed to pre- 
millennial faith. In 1830 John Winebrenner, of the 
German Eeformed Church of Harrisburg, Pennsyl- 
vania, was virtually ejected on the question of re- 
vivals. He believed they were necessary in main- 
taining the spirituality of the Church and in winning 
the lost to Christ. He was a pious man. All who 
knew him personally speak of him in the highest 
terms. 

Article xxiv of the Church of God reads : " She be- 
lieves in the resurrection of the dead, both of the just and 
the unjust; that the resurrection of the just will precede 
the resurrection of the unjust ; that the first will take place 
at the beginning, and the second at the end of the 
Millennium." 3 

165. Adventists. There are several branches of 
Adventists. 3 While some branches are unorthodox 
and rather unspiritual, the main body of orthodox 
evangelical Adventists are very good people and 
have a well formulated creed in perfect harmony 
with the Chiliasm of the primitive Church. Their 
faith is that of Poiret (156). 

The eschatology of the Adventists was framed at a gen- 
eral conference held at Albany, New York, April 29, 1845. 
Those doctrines, with copious Scripture citations, are 
published in full by D. T. Taylor, in his "Voice of the 
Church." 4 

166. The Christian Alliance, under the able and 
spiritual leadership of A. B. Simpson, is very strong 



*M, II, 160-162; IV, 664. 
3 See Schaff-Herzog. 



2 Quoted byT, pp. 353, 354. 

4 T, pp. 358-362. 



144 THE LOKD'S EETUEK SEEN IN HISTORY 



in pre -millennial faith, and remarkably aggressive in 
missionary activity. 

They preach justification, sanctification, divine healing, 
and the imminent return of Christ. They have witnessed 
many marvellous cases of divine healing. They urge 
people into an experience of holiness such as the nearness 
of the Lord's return demands. Their success in raising 
money for missionary enterprise is astonishing. They 
have sent forth and are now maintaining missionaries in 
every part of the world. 

Hastening onward, it becomes necessary to pass 
numerous other religious bodies deserving of men- 
tion, who watch and wait for the coming of the Lord. 
The faith of the early Methodists will be seen in a 
separate chapter (173-208). However, in making 
notes of what we have already seen we are confirmed 
in the belief that writers are correct who assert that 
the blessed hope of the speedy return of the Lord has 
been a mighty incentive to the life and faith of the 
people of God in every century of the Christian era. 



XXIV.— MILLENNIAL CARICATURES 
11 Let us watch and be sober " (1 Thess. v. 6). 

Erroneous ideas are sometimes held by indiscrimina- 
ting people. In writing against Chiliasm or the doc- 
trine of the pre-millennial return of the Lord, some 
authors dwell at length upon its caricatures and make 
little if any mention of its worthy representatives. 
Many readers have thus been turned away from the 
study of the subject. Others have been led to regard 
it with disgust. We shall glance at some of its 
travesties and caricatures. 



CARICATUKES 



145 



167. Anabaptist Apostates. We have had sev- 
eral previous glimpses of the Anabaptists (138, 158). 
We have seen that they were spiritual people, terribly- 
persecuted, and falsely charged with heresies. How- 
ever, an apostate element brought great reproach 
upon the name (1534, 1535 A. d.). 

(a) Awful persecution desolated the Anabaptists. 
Some men of evil design crowded in and assumed leader- 
ship, established polygamy, and proclaimed the Millen- 
nium as a present reality. Munster was the seat of 
abomination. John of Leydon had seventeen wives ; was 
proclaimed king of the whole earth; appointed twelve 
dukes under him to rule the world ; and established the 
Millennium ! 1 They were subdued by civil authority 
and the leaders were executed. They had precipitated a 
local war. 

(b) The wildness of the Munster apostates was used by 
Rome as a pretext to discredit the Reformation and estab- 
lish Jesuitism. 

(c) Polygamy was never endorsed by Anabaptists. 
The Munster apostates were unworthy of the name (138). 

(d) Who is caricatured ? John of Leydon was actually 
crowned at Munster as king of the world ; his millennium 
was established ; the Lord had not returned. This was a 
miniature reproduction of the imperialism of Rome and it 
was a travesty on post-millennialism. Virtuous and sen- 
sible Anabaptists place the Millennium beyond the second 
advent of Christ. 

168. A "Philadelphia" Society at Hesse, Ger- 
many, established by Eva von Buttlar, was very dis- 
reputable. 

Mrs. Buttlar abandoned her husband, a French dancing 
master, and announced herself as a convert to Pietism 
(157). She surpassed her husband in wickedness. The 
society which she established on her own authority was 

1 M, I, 210, 211 ; Kurtz, II, 280; "Univ. Cyclo.," I, 168-170. 



146 THE LOED'S RETURN SEEN IN HISTOEY 



used to cast reproach upon Pietism and upon the genuine 
and spiritual Philadelphia societies (154) in England and 
Germany. Kurtz has no hesitation in branding her 
"Philadelphia" society as a "diabolic caricature" of the 
name which she stole. 1 

169. Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1722), a prom- 
inent Swede, began in 1749 to write voluminous 
literature setting forth his religious experience and 
theological tenets. 

Swedenborgism denies that there will be a resurrection 
of the body, and teaches that Christ will never return 
either personally or visibly. Swedenborg claimed to have 
communion with spirits. 2 

170. Communistic Sects. Several communities 
of the nineteenth century may be mentioned. 

(a) In Europe the 1 ' Amen churches ' ' sought to gather 
God's people of the Jewish Christian communities together 
in Palestine, while the German Temple, founded by Chris- 
tian Hoffman, sought to gather the Gentile Christians. 3 

(b) "Harmony" and " Economy " settlements. In 
1803, under George Rapp, 600 Wurtemburg Pietists came 
to America. On Connoquenessing Creek, near Pittsburgh, 
Pennsylvania, they settled on a fertile spot which they 
named "Harmony." All were pre-millenarians. They 
were very spiritual. On the community plan they became 
wealthy. Father Rapp, their leader, was a very holy 
man, and to the last hour of his life he watched for the 
Lord's return. In 1847, aged ninety, the spirit of Rapp 
swept away in holy triumph. Bernard Muller, who went 
with a large following and founded the Economy settlement 
on the Ohio River, was less spiritual than Father Rapp. 4 

(c) The "Oneida" society, founded by J. H. Noyes, 
at Lenox, New York, was in no sense chiliastic. They 
maintained that the second advent of Christ took place in 



1 Kurtz, III, 135. 

3 Ibid., Ill, 427 ; " Cath. Ency.," X, 309. 

4 Kurtz, Ibid., Ill, 435, 436. 



2 Ibid., Ill, 137- 



CARICATXJKES 147 

A. D. 70. They practiced community of wives, if Kurtz 
be correct, in which respect there is a striking difference 
between them and the other societies mentioned. 1 

171. Millerites. William Miller (1788-1849), of 
Massachusetts, appeared as a preacher in 1833. He 
calculated that the Lord would return in 1843. His 
followers, called Millerites, abandoned their occupa- 
tions and attired themselves in ascension robes, wait- 
ing for the appearing of the Bridegroom. 2 

Miller was said to have been an intelligent, humble and 
spiritual man ; but, like others, he seriously erred in fixing 
a date for the Lord's return. The people should have 
continued in their regular pursuits, remaining satisfied with 
white robes of holiness. 

Other caricatures of greater or less prominence seen 
in history embody elements similar to those mentioned. 
(Russellism, 29.) 

172. Concluding Observations. Of the carica- 
tures we have seen, some were Satanic while others 
were innocent. They should be distinguished. The 
hyperboles of Papias and the Apostle John (44) re- 
flect no discredit upon the early Fathers nor upon the 
Apostles. And as to apostates, shall we brand the 
twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ as sons of perdition 
because Judas was a ' ' son of perdition 1 ' ? Shall we 
refuse to accept gold coin as legal tender because 
brass counterfeits may be in circulation ? And shall 
we refuse gold nuggets because we have seen a 
painted stone? If some will insist upon dressing 
Truth in a fool's coat to made her look ridiculous, we 
may reject the coat but we will never reject Truth. 3 

1 Kurtz, III, 435, 436. 

2 M, VI, 266, 267, 271-273. 

3 See Hartley, " Paradise Restored," pp. 337, 338. 



148 THE LOED'S EETUKN SEEN IN HISTOEY 



XXV. — JOHN WESLEY AND THE EARLY METHOD- 
ISTS WERE PRE-MILLENNIAL 

1 'Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no 
man shall see the Lord " (Heb. xii. 14). 

173. West Affirms. Nathaniel West observes 
that "the foundations of the Methodist Church were 
laid deep in the pre-millennial faith of the pure apos- 
tolic and primitive Church/' the faith " that kindled 
the souls of the two Wesleys, Fletcher, Coke, and 
the ' Oxford Methodists. ' " 1 West is correct in his 
assertion. 

174. Munger Denies. Charles Munger, however, 
insists that Wesley was a post-millenarian. Munger 
cites Wesley's " Notes ' ' on Eevelation and on various 
passages in the New Testament, affirming that "these 
facts show conclusively that Wesley placed the second 
advent after the Millennium," and maintaining that 
Wesley's writings are the only source from which to 
obtain a correct knowledge of his views. 2 There are 
other sources of information ; but it is fair, first, to 
admit the writings of Wesley and examine them. 



WESLEY'S NOTES ON THE NEW TESTAMENT 

Munger, to support his position, appeals to Wes- 
ley's "Notes." Some of the places cited are irrel- 
evant ; incorrect inferences are drawn from several 
notes ; other references are plausible. 

175. Matt. xiii. 33. — "Thus will the Gospel leaven 
the world." What is implied by this note? Compare 
with that on the mustard seed (v. 31), which reads : "So 

1 West, " John Wesley and Pre-millennialism," p. 29. 

2 Munger, "Was Wesley a Pre-millermialist ? " Boston, 1898, a 
pamphlet now incorporated with " Antinomianism Revived," by 
Steele, in which see pp. 275-277. 




EAELY METHODISM 149 



will Christian doctrine spread in the world." This note, 
without a figure of speech, explains that concerning the 
leaven which Wesley expresses in the figurative language 
of the text. The spreading of Christian doctrine every- 
where is no proof that people will be converted and kept 
by the power of God on a Millennial scale anywhere. 

176. Matt. xxv. 31-46. — Christ comes to "judge the 
world." But Samuel and fourteen others before him were 
judges, executing justice. Wesley believes that this judg- 
ment day "may not improbably comprise several thousand 
years," and he teaches that all the righteous will be judged 
before the wicked, and that they will then assist Christ in 
the judgment of the wicked. (See " Sermons," I, 128, 
and note on 1 Cor. vi. 2, comparing with Matt. xix. 28 
and Rev. xx. 4.) 

177. Several citations refer to the present spiritual 
kingdom of God in Christian hearts, enjoyed during the 
ministry of Christ and especially on and after the day of 
Pentecost. Munger fails to observe distinctions. (See 
Kingdom of God, 351-35 7.) 

178. Acts i. 6. — On the kingdom as a "dream" ob- 
serve that Wesley in one of his sermons makes the whole 
of human life on earth during the present dispensation a 
" dream " (" Sermons," II, 460-465). But present life on 
earth is real. The Millennium will be equally real. 

179. On 2 Tim. iii. 1, with the entire chapter, Wes- 
ley shows the prevalence of unrighteousness throughout 
this dispensation. 

180. 1 John ii. 18. — " The last time " is a phrase 
quoted by Munger from this place, leaving us to infer 
that the Millennium must be during this dispensation. 
But from this very same place we copy the following note 
by Wesley : "Antichrist, in St. John's sense, that is, anti- 
christianism, has been spreading from his time till now, 
and will do so, till that great adversary arises, and is 
destroyed by Christ's coming" The whole of Wesley's 
remarks on 1 John ii. 18, instead of fortifying Munger who 
calls our attention to the passage, makes his position un- 
tenable and actually proves West to be correct ! West 
makes the father of Methodism a pre-millenarian. 



150 THE LOED'S EETUEN SEEN IN HISTOEY 



181. Rev. xx. i-ii. — Here, it is alleged, is the proof 
that Wesley was a post-millenarian. And yet Wesley 
translates and abridges from Bengel (264) who, as all 
authorities acknowledge, was an ardent pre-millenarian. 1 
Bengel teaches a double Millennium into which we shall 
inquire : 

(a) ' ' A flourishing state of the Church on earth. ' ' Note 
the following points. (1) Wesley copies from Bengel ; 
(2) Wesley's general teaching is pre-millennial ; (3) his 
notes here are abridged too much to clearly elucidate Ben- 
gel; (4) Wesley knew that Bengel was a pronounced 
Chiliast, and selects him as an exegetical guide. 

(b) "A reign of the saints with Christ in heaven." 
So Bengel taught; and here, again, confusion has been 
created. However, as good old Jeremiah saw " the stork 
in the heaven," 2 whose nest was in the " fir trees " 8 ; and 
as Peter, James and John saw Moses and Elijah when the 
Saviour was transfigured ; 4 and as Christ communed with 
His disciples, appearing and disappearing, during the 
forty days between the resurrection and ascension ; so in 
the coming age, with transfigured but visible glory, the 
resurrected saints from highly exalted ' 'set thrones of 
judgment" will share with Christ in the administration 
of justice and judgment. . . . Those who sit with 
Christ and reign during the Millennium are resurrected 
and glorified saints, contradistinguished from people in the 
flesh who have never died. Butterflies soar above ; worms 
crawl below. 

182. Rev. xx. 4. — Here Wesley writes : " 'And I saw 
thrones ' — such are promised the Apostles (Matt. xix. 28 ; 
Luke xxii. 30). 'And they' — namely, the saints whom 
John saw at this time (Daniel vii. 22) — ' sat upon them; 
and judgment was given unto them ' (1 Cor. vi. 2). 'And 
I saw the souls of them who had been beheaded,' with the 
axe; so the original word signifies. 'And they lived/ — 

1 Brown, " Sec. Adv.," p. 230 ; " UEP Ency." ; " Cham. Ency.," 
VII, 199; Schaff-Herzog, VII, 376; and all others. That Bengel 
was pre has never been disputed. 

8 Jer. viii. 7. 3 Psalm civ. 17. 4 Matt. xvii. 3. 



EAELY METHODISM 151 



their souls and bodies being reunited." Wesley makes 
this resurrection pre-millennial. 

Other Notes : An exhaustive review of Wesley's Notes is 
not permissible. Many other places equally strong we are 
required to omit, although they might be quoted to ad- 
vantage. What we have now adduced is submitted to the 
judgment of candid readers. 

WESLEY'S SERMONS 

Munger falls back upon Wesley's "Sermons" and 
attempts to fortify a new position. He uses the 
sermon on The Great Assize 1 and also that on The 
Good Steward, 2 from which he infers that Wesley 
teaches "one judgment universal and eternal" at 
which time "every human being will be raised." 3 
With Wesley's "Sermons" introduced as evidence, 
let us examine them. 

183. On the Millennium. See Wesley's de- 
scription of Millennial glory (12). Holiness will be 
universal. 

184. On the Condition of the World at the 
Present Time. 

"We may boldly say that wherever Christianity has 
spread, the apostasy has spread also ; insomuch that, 
although there are now and always have been individuals 
who were real Christians, yet the whole world never did, 
nor can at this day, show a Christian country or city." 

In this same sermon Wesley contrasts "the wickedness 

1 " Sermons," I, 126-135. 2 Ibid., I, 454. 

3 The quotations are Munger's deductions, not Wesley's statements. 
See note on Rev. xx. 4, quoted (182). When the wicked rise, all 
human beings remaining in their graves will be taken. The whole 
chronology Wesley here places on one horizon. The "day" of 
" several thousand years " is seen in perspective. See " poles," 
" stars," " mountains " (350), to illustrate. 



152 THE LOKD'S EETUKN SEEN IN HISTOEY 



which overflows the earth . . . the almost universal 
contagion," with "the blessed hope which God has given 
us that the time is at hand when righteousness will 
be as universal as unrighteousness is now." — "Sermons, 11 
II, 65-67. 

Observations: (1) Wickedness is almost universal; 
(2) righteousness will be equally universal; (3) the time 
for this, transformation is at hand. How is this speedy 
and marvellous change to be realized? Let us make 
further inquiry. 

185. On the Lord's Return. Hear Wesley's clear 
utterances on this point : 

" The days which Adam and Eve spent in Paradise 
were far better than any which have been spent by their 
descendents, or ever will be, till Christ returns to reign 
upon earth." 

"From the time that the Church and the State, the 
kingdoms of Christ and of the world, were so strangely 
and unnaturally blended together, Christianity and heathen- 
ism were so thoroughly incorporated with each other that 
they will hardly ever be divided till Christ comes to reign 
upon earth. So that, instead of fancying that the glory of 
the New Jerusalem covered the earth at that period, 1 we 
have terrible proof that it was then, and has ever since 
been, covered with the smoke of the bottomless pit." 
— " Sermons," II, 357, 361. 

Observe that Wesley believes wickedness will prevail 
until Christ returns "to reign upon earth." 

Holiness was the theme of Wesley. On escha- 
tology he may seem at times to have written with 
ambiguity. But the statements which we have 
quoted are definite and clear. Wesley was a pre- 
millenarian. The tenor of his " Notes" and "Ser- 
mons," instead of proving the contrary, serve to 
establish the fact. 

1 Alluding to the rise and reign of Constantine. 



EAELY METHODISM 



153 



INFLUENCES WHICH SURROUNDED WESLEY 

186. Samuel Wesley (1662-1735), father of the 
great apostle of Methodism, was chief contributor 
and associate editor of the Athenian Gazette. 1 In 
Volume IV of the Gazette, in the issue of October 17, 
1691, Samuel Wesley wrote : 

" We believe, as all Christians of the purest ages did, that 
the saints shall reign with Christ on earth a thousand years. 
At the beginning of the thousand years shall be the first 
resurrection, wherein martyrs and holy men shall rise and 
reign here in spiritual delights." 2 

187. Charles Wesley (1708-1788), brother of 
John, and the hymnologist of Methodism, was a pre- 
millenarian. 3 Modern collections omit some of his 
clearest hymns on this subject. Some hymns now in 
use have been pruned. We quote a few lines of one 
hymn : 

" Trusting in the literal Word, \ 
We look for Christ on earth again ; \ 
Come, our everlasting Lord, 
With all thy saints to reign." * 

188. The Moravians. John Wesley was moulded 
by the Moravians (138, 146). They were Chiliasts, 
and holy people. 

Wesley sails for Georgia ; a terrific storm threatens de- 
struction ; Moravian piety and conduct deeply impress 
Wesley ; he converses with them daily, and mingles with 
them in Savannah. Returning to England, Peter Boehler, 

1 M, X, 918. 

3 Tyerman, " Life of Samuel Wesley," London, 1866, pp. 146, 
147. 

3 " New Cham. Ency.,' ? VII, 199; Schaff-Herzog, VII, 377. 

4 T, p. 262; West and Taylor quote from several other hymns. 



154 THE LOED'S EETUEN SEEN IN HISTOEY 



a pre-millenarian, 1 and the Moravians of Fetter Lane, 
strong in this faith, 2 impart warmth to his soul. 

Going to Herrnhut, the Moravian " Watch of the Lord " 
in Germany (212), where all were pre-millenarians, he 
finds a haven to his soul. 3 He comes in touch with 
Francke (242), exulting in this faith at the Orphan House 
of Halle (301). Bishop Spangenburg, successor of 
Zinzendorf, and the devout "Melancthon of the Brethren," 
is a pre-millenarian, and the bosom friend of Wesley. 4 
This was the faith of the Vicar of Bexley, 5 and of many 
others whom we might mention. 

We have seen the faith of Wesley's noble father, 
of his illustrious brother Charles, and of the Mora- 
vians who prayed for him and guided him into 
Christian experience. We shall now interview 
Sutcliffe, Fletcher and Coke, representative men. 

189. Joseph Sutcliffe, of Yorkshire, who died in 
London at an advanced age, was a noted preacher whom 
Wesley appointed. He was a man of " unspotted Chris- 
tian purity and progressive excellence. In Biblical schol- 
arship he especially excelled." He wrote an excellent 
commentary on the whole Bible. His spirit burned to go 
to the Scilly Isles after "the souls of the poor smugglers, 
notorious on those rocks of the sea," and where as a mis- 
sionary he succeeded in establishing Methodism. When 
about to leave " he could not procure his saddle-bags from 
the people without a promise that he would again return." 6 
Sutcliffe was a pre-millenarian. 7 

190. John Fletcher (1 729-1 785), the sainted Vicar 
of Madeley, was also a strong pre-millenarian. In his 
Fifth and Sixth Letters on Socinianism Unscriptural, and 
in his Letter 011 the Prophecies, he avows and teaches this 
faith in very clear, strong and positive terms. 8 

1 Bishop Boehler (1712-1775), pre (West, p. 26, citing Tyerman). 
3 Ibid. 3 Ibid. * Ibid. ; M, IX, 905, 906. 5 West, Ibid. 

6 M, sup., II, 861 ; Stevens, " Hist. Meth.," II, 348, 349. 

7 T, p. 329; "Introduction to Christianity," 1801, p. 126. 

8 Fletcher, "Works," III, 519-544; IV, 238-250. 



EAELY METHODISM 155 



Wesley earnestly desired Fletcher to succeed him as the 
guardian of Methodism. "There must be one to preside 
over all," wrote Wesley, "or the work will indeed come 
to an end." 1 Fletcher was a very strong writer and a 
very holy man. 

191. Thomas Coke (1 747-1814) becomes the successor 
of Wesley, because God took Fletcher home six years ahead 
of the father of Methodism. Fletcher's chair is empty. 
Wesley turns to Coke, and "the first Protestant bishop of 
the New World " becomes his successor. 2 " The mission- 
ary spirit was with him as a burning fire shut up in his 
bones. He crossed the Atlantic eighteen times at his own 
expense, and at his death had charge of Methodist mis- 
sions throughout the world." 3 To him the faith of the im- 
minent and pre-millennial return of the Lord was a 
mighty impetus impelling him onward after immortal souls. 
On a missionary journey to the far East he finally expired 
and ivas buried iti the sea. 

(a) Coke wrote: "The period of time which yet 
remains we know is short ; how short, who can tell ? 
We ought to be in constant and hourly expectation of 
it. At the coming of Christ to deliver and avenge His 
people, the faith of His coming will in a great measure be 
lost."* 

(b) He wrote a large commentary on the entire Bible. 
We quote from Rev. xx. : "The sons of the resurrec- 
tion, therefore, shall not die again, but live and reign with 
Christ in eternal bliss, as well as enjoy all the glories of the 
Millennium ; be priests of God and Christ, and reign with 
Him a thousand years. . . . That there shall be 
such a happy period as the Millennium is the plain and 
express doctrine of Dan. vii. 27, Psa. ii. 8, Isa. xi. 9, 
Rom. xi. 25, and of all the prophets as well as of John. 
. . . The doctrine of the Millennium was generally be- 
lieved in the first three and purest ages. . • . . The 

1 Wesley, " Works, " London, 1830, XII, 148 ; also Smith's " Hist. 
Methodism." 

3 Stevens, "Hist. Meth.," II, 187. 

3 M, II, 404. 4 Quoted by Taylor, p. 272. 



156 THE LOED'S BETUBN SEEK IN HISTOEY 



doctrine lay depressed for ages, but it sprang up again at 
the Reformation." 1 

Coke, Fletcher and Sutcliffe were pre-millenarians. This 
was the faith of early Methodism. Three better represent- 
atives of the spirit and faith of early Methodism no man 
can name. 

192. The Episcopalian or Established Church 
of England, of which Wesley was an ordained 
preacher, and in which he retained his nominal rela- 
tionship, was strong on the pre-millennial advent 
(160). Every influence over Wesley was pre-millen- 
nial. Deep into his soul he breathed the invigorating 
atmosphere of this faith. Shall we think it strange 
to find that he always gives the doctrine his endorse- 
ment? 

WESLEY ENDORSES PRE-MILLENNIAL DOCTRINE 

193. Letter to Middleton. On January 14, 1749, 
Wesley wrote a letter to Dr. Conyars Middleton, say- 
ing in part : 

"The doctrine (as you very well know) 2 which Justin 
(50) deduced from the prophets and the Apostles, and in 
which he was undoubtedly followed by the Fathers of the 
second and third centuries, is this: The souls of them who 
have been martyrs for the witness of Jesus, and for the 
word of God, and who have not worshipped the beast, 
neither received his mark, shall live and reign with Christ 
a thousand years. But the rest of the dead shall not live 
again until the thousand years are finished. 

" Now to say that they believe this is neither more nor 
less than to say that they believe the Bible." 3 

Remarks : (1) Justin makes the first resurrection corpo- 

1 Coke's "Com., N. T.," II, 1004, 1005, N. Y., edition of 1812, 
for the Methodist Connection in U. S. A. See West, pp. 36-38. 
3 The parenthetical clause is Wesley's. 
3 Wesley, "Works," N. Y., 1853, V, 726, 727. 



EAELY METHODISM 157 



real, which Wesley very well knew. (2) Wesley believed, 
and taught the same (182). (3) The term "souls" is 
used by inspired writers to designate people living in their 
bodies (334). 

VARIOUS "WRITINGS ENDORSED 

"Wesley endorses various writings teaching that the 
return of Christ will be pre-millennial. 

194. Rutherford, Alleine, Bengel and Newton. 

Wesley highly endorses the Letters of the seraphic 
Samuel Rutherford (244) and the pious Joseph Alleine 
(245) which, as we shall see, are strikingly pre-millen- 
nial. 1 He remarks that Bishop Newton (271) on the 
Prophecies is a man of sense and learning, especially in 
what he writes on Revelation ; and he observes also that 
the writings of Bengel (264) are of still higher value. 2 
Newton and Bengel were Chiliasts. 

195. Wesley's Tribute to the Fathers has already 
been quoted (37). They taught, he declares, " the pure, 
uncorrupted doctrine of Christ." It is a well-known fact 
that "the interval between the apostolic age and that of 
Constantine has been called the chiliastic period of 
Apocalyptic interpretation." 3 The Fathers were Chiliasts 
(36). Did they believe " dreams" or "fables"? Wes- 
ley says they "believed the Bible " (193) and "taught the 
pure, uncorrupted doctrine of Christ." Wesley's eulogy 
on the Montanists (60, 61), whose distinguishing tenet was 
Chiliasm, has been heard. 

196. Hartley's Book Recommended. In a letter 
to Thomas Hartley, dated March 27, 1764, Wesley heartily 
recommends the pre-millennial teachings in that author's 
excellent work entitled " Paradise Restored." * He says : 

1 Wesley, " Works," London, ed. 3, XIV, 268. 
3 Letter to Joseph Benson, London, Dec. 8, 1777. 

3 M, VIII, 1066. 

4 Published in London, 1764. Thomas Hartley, A. M., was a 
friend of the Countess of Huntington and of the Shirley family, and 
an " earnest, devout Christian" (Tyerman, II, 521-524). 



158 THE LOBD'S EETUEN SEEN IN HISTORY 



"Your book on the Millennium and the Mystic writers 
was lately put into my hands. I cannot but thank you for 
your strong and seasonable confirmation of that comfortable 
doctrine, of which I cannot entertain the least doubt as 
long as I believe the Bible." 1 

Wesley (i) endorses this book, and (2) it teaches his 
own unshaken doctrine. He criticizes certain statements 
on other points by some of the Mystics whom Hartley 
quotes. This proves that he read the book. It was a 
strong and radical production on pre-millennialism. a 

In reviewing Hartley's book, Tyerman says it teaches 
among other things that " Christ will come a second time, 
and will set up a kingdom, and visibly reign on the earth 
for a thousand years." 3 

This was Wesley's "comfortable doctrine," unless some 
one proves that he ceased to "believe the Bible." 

197. A Magazine Article. In Wesley's Arminian 
Magazine, page 184 of the volume of 1784, there ap- 
pears an article on the Renovation of All Things, in 
which it is urged that, according to the promises : 

' 'There will be a middle period ' between the present 
pollution, corruption, and degradation' of the earth, 'and 
that of a total, universal restoration of all things on a purely 
angelical, celestial and eternal state 1 ; and that, in this 
middle period, < between these two extremes,' the earth 
will be 'renewed in its primitive lustre and beauty.' "* 

THE FAITH OF WESLEY AND EARLY METHODISTS 
PROVED BY TESTIMONY 

198. Tyerman. Dr. C. A. Beckwith, professor 
of systematic theology in the University of Chicago, 
says, "The best biography of John Wesley is that of 

1 Wesley, "Works," N. Y., 1853, VI, 743. 

2 Tyerman says : " It is by far the most sober, sensible, Scriptural 
and learned work on the Millennium that it has been our lot to 
read."—" Life of Wesley;' Ibid. 

. 3 " Life of Wesley," N. Y., 1872, II, 523. * 1 bid., p. 524. 



EAKLY METHODISM 159 



Luke Tyerman." 1 Let us hear from Wesley's best 
biographer. Tyerman says : 

"Wesley, like his father before him, was a Millenarian, 
a believer in the second advent of Christ to reign on earth, 
visibly and gloriously, for a thousand years." 8 

199. Robert Southey, whose biography of Wesley 
ranks as a close second to that of Tyerman, says of 
the father of Methodism : 

" He held the doctrine of the Millennium to be Scrip- 
tural." 3 

In Wesley's day, and earlier, "the doctrine of the 
Millennium" designated what we now more specifically 
call pre-millennialism.* 

200. William Nast, the commentator, testifies : 

" Both John and Charles Wesley, Dr. Coke, as well as 
Fletcher and Whitefield, occupied pre-millennial ground." 5 
Concerning Wesley in particular William Nast says : "I 
have studied Wesley's writings with great diligence ; and 
my prayer has been that the clergy and laity of the Church 
might be reminded that John Wesley was a firm believer 
in the personal and pre-millennial coming of the Lord 
Jesus." 6 

201. Joseph A. Seiss (277), the distinguished in- 
terpreter of prophecy, states the post-millennial 
doctrine in his noted " Lectures on the Apocalypse." 
Among those who oppose post-millennialism, he 
mentions the fact that " the Wesleys are against it." 7 

202. George C. Needham, who was selected to 

1 Schaff-Herzog, XII, 310. 2 " Life of Wesley," II, 523. 

3 " Life of Wesley," 1874, II, 79. 

4 See Gibbon (36 b); Newton (36 g) ; Toplady (223); Whitby 
(T, p. 228); Coke (191 c); Jeremy Taylor (T, p. 107); Maitland 
(T, p. 107), with various others. Compare Millen. (15, notes). 

5 Sims, " Shadows," p. 229. 6 West, on Wesley, p. 8. 
? " Lectures," ed. 8, III, 343. 



160 THE LOKD'S EETUEN SEEN IN HISTOEY 



write the article on Pre-millennialism for the new 
" Popular and Critical Bible Encyclopedia/' con- 
tributes this information : 

"John Wesley," affirms Needham, "exulted in this 
hope." 1 

203. Professor E. F. Stroeter, of University Park, 
Colorado, testifies that : 

4 ' The founders of Methodism were in the true apostolic 
succession of a healthy Scriptural Chiliasm. . . . May 
the Methodist Church hold fast to, and be comforted by, 
the blessed hope of the Gospel, the hope of the early 
Church, the hope of the Fathers " 2 (36). 

Professor W. P. Coddington, D. D., of Syracuse Uni- 
versity, New York, in recommending Nathaniel West's 
book showing that Wesley was a pre-millenarian, says : 
"The body of the argument, as to Wesley's position, is 
unanswerable, and its reassertion in our day seems to me 
to be very seasonable." 3 

204. George Smith, in his "History of Wesleyan 
Methodism," makes the following statement: 

"In all the controversies which arose respecting the 
religious tenets of the early Methodists, it was invariably 
maintained that theirs was ' the old religion,' 'the religion 
of the primitive Church.' " 4 (See 36-56.) 

205. Undisputed. That John Wesley was a pre- 
millenarian has now been affirmed by two of his very 
best biographers, by three other accredited authori- 
ties, by two theological professors of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, and by the broad statement of an 
ecclesiastical historian. Against this testimony there 
is no biographer, no encyclopedia, no accredited 

1 Chicago, 1904, II, 1 165. 

2 West, quoting a letter of June 9, 1894, p. 8. 

3 West, p. 8, quoting letter from Syracuse, July 3, 1893. 
4 History mentioned, London, 1857, I, 641, 642. 



EAELY METHODISM 161 



work of reference, not a single historian, who has 
left on record one word of denial. Therefore if testi- 
mony has not established the fact, it is impossible 
to prove anything by testimony. Wesley, with early 
Methodism, was pre -millennial in faith. 

We have spent a full day on the hallowed paths of 
early Methodism. We must hurriedly view the part- 
ing scenes, and hasten onward. 

206. Looking for the Lord's Return. Wesley 
lived every day, every hour, as though it were his 
last. He fixed no dates. He was always ready, 
always watchful. He said : 

" Perhaps He will appear as the dayspring from on high, 
before the morning light. Oh, do not set us a time — expect 
Him every hour. Now He is nigh, even at the doors." 1 

207. Epitaph over Wesley's Grave. This inscrip- 
tion publishes to the world the fact that Wesley 
was raised up of God to — 

' ' Bevive, Enforce, and Defend the Pure Apostolic 
Doctrines and Practices of the Primitive Church," 

for which purpose he laboured 

"More Than Half a Century." 2 

208. Walter Churchey at Wesley's Tomb. 

Walter Churchey, friend of Coke, Fletcher, and 
Cowper, and a very affectionate friend of John 
Wesley, speaks in broken tones : 

"I have lost my friend Wesley, but I shall see him 
again, perhaps soon, even upon earth where the sufferers 
for Christ are to rise and reign in His spiritual kingdom, 
for a thousand years." 3 

1 Quoted by Pickett, " Blessed Hope," p. 190. 

a West, p. 12. 5 Tyerman, " Life of Wesley," III, 579. 



162 THE LORD'S RETURN SEEN IX HISTORY 



XXVI. — REFORMERS AND CHURCH LEADERS 

" Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set " 
(PBOV. xxii. 28). 

We have outlined the main features in the doctrinal 
and denominational development of the Church from 
the period of the Reformation onward to the present 
time (131-208). We shall now observe more es- 
pecially the rise and influence of individual leaders 
who looked for the pre- millennial return of the Lord. 
We shall walk in paths similar to those from which 
we obtained our view of Wesley and the early 
Methodists. As a tourist in the halls of a great ex- 
position has time to examine in each department only 
a few specimens among hundreds of their kind, so we 
shall have time to consult only a few representatives 
from the various branches of human society and 
ascertain the views which they hold and the witness 
they bear concerning the Lord's return. 

In regular order we shall begin (1) on the conti- 
nent of Europe ; (2) go across the English Channel 
to the British Isles ; (3) enter the New World. 
May the Holy Spirit direct our paths and inspire our 
hearts. 

Europe 

209. Philip Melancthon ( 1497-1560), the German 
reformer, who was Luther's brilliant and spiritual 
fellow-labourer, divides the earth into five universal 
kingdoms. 

The fourth kingdom is Rome. The fifth will be " the 
kingdom of Christ and His saints." This reformer 
says " the cruel kingdom of the Turks . . . must 
soon decline, and then will dawn the day in which the 



GREAT LEADEES 163 

dead will be restored to life." 1 See his view of the 
Church (19). 

210. Henry Bullinger (1504-1575), the rioted 
Swiss reformer, objects not to "the Chiliasm of 
Papias" (44), and exclaims with assurance : 

" Let us lift up our heads because our redemption 
draweth nigh." 2 

211. Claude Brousson was a staunch French 
Protestant who established the " Churches of the 
Desert " as verdant oases in a vast Sahara. 

In his home, in 1683, French Protestants decided to 
continue the holding of religious meetings notwithstanding 
Rome's order to desist. Brousson was martyred by 
" breaking on the wheel." He was a Chiliast. 3 

212. Count N. L. Zinzendorf (1700-1760), who 
established Herrnhur, " The Watch of the Lord,' 7 4 
and organized the " Moravian Brethren" (138, 146, 
188), is renowned as the leader of German Pietism 
(157). He was a Chiliast, 5 and this was the faith of 
the Pietists. 

Zinzendorf was very spiritual from earliest childhood. 6 
He insisted upon the necessity of heart purity, which he 
connected with regeneration. He sent missionaries 
throughout Europe, and into America, Greenland, Africa 
and China. "To him, in fact, Wesley (188) was di- 
rectly indebted both for his religious organization and 
missionary plans . . . having passed some time with 
Zinzendorf at Herrnhut." 7 

1 Elliott, II, 137; Lord, " Expos. Apoc," pp. 238-240; T, pp. 
159-161. 

2 " Apoc," Basle, 1557, p. 265 ; El., II, 139; IV, 437; T, p. 150. 
a Brousson (1647-1698), pre (M, I, 897 ; II, 55). 

4 Stevens, " Hist. Meth.," I, 98. 

8 Gieseler, "Ch. Hist.," V, 302, 303. 

•Kurtz, III, 118, 119. 'M, X, 1099. (188b.) 



164 THE LOED'S EETUEN SEEN IN HISTOEY 

Zinzendorf was an admirer of Spener (241) ; spent six 
years at Halle under the personal care of Francke (242) ; 
wrote 2,000 hymns. 

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, founded by Moravians, was 
visited by Zinzendorf in December, 1741. Many of the 
original houses remain as objects of interest to tourists. 

British Isles 

213. John Jewel (1522-1571), Bishop of Salisbury, 
England, a pious and learned man, felt confident that 
" the glorious appearing of the Lord shall be shortly." 1 

214. Thomas Becom (1511-1563), prebend of 
Canterbury, believed Christ would soon return. 

Becom says : " Although the holy Scriptures do pass 
over with silence the certainty of the time when Christ 
shall come to judge the world . . . yet we may 
plainly perceive that it is not far off. . . . Then shall 
the Lord separate the sheep from the goats " 2 (Matt. xxv. 
3 2 )- 

215. John Knox (1505-1572), of Scotland, looked 
for the speedy return of Christ (19b). His spirit was 
a flaming fire. 3 It was he who cried to God : " Give 
me Scotland, or I die ! " 

216. John Glas (1695-1773) was a Scotch Chiliast. 
D. T. Taylor quotes from, his works, published in 
1761. 4 He founded the Glasites or Sandemanians, of 
whom Michael Faraday was a member (282). 

217. Daniel Whitby (1638-1726), of England, was 
a distinguished post-millenarian. In fact it is con- 
ceded that he is the father of modern post- millennial - 
ism. He defends this title, having invented what he 
calls " a new hypothesis. " 5 

1 Parker ed., com., 1847, m > 88 7- 2 Ibid -> Becom, III, 624. 
3 T, p. 151. 4 T, pp. 274-276. 5 T, p. 231, quoting Whitby. 



POETEY AND OEATOEY 165 



Whitby is quoted at length by Taylor. 1 We have pre- 
sented his millennial views (17a), and have made fre- 
quent reference to his doctrine (18, 48, 65, 86). 

218. Thomas Chalmers (1780-1847), the eloquent 
Scotch divine, who was distinguished as a philanthro- 
pist and as a philosopher, was a Chiliast. 3 

As professor of theology in the college of Edinburgh, he 
wrote the article " Christianity " for the " EdinburghEncy- 
clopedia." Leading 400 preachers after him, Chalmers 
founded the Free Church of Scotland, presiding over its 
General Assembly. His labours were amazing. He 
" breathed his own burning spirit into every class." 3 

See Waldo (125), Occam (127), Wyclif (128), Savona- 
rola (130), Milicz (146), Menno (147), Luther (148), 
Cromwell (150), Wesley (173-208), and others. 

XXVII.— THE DOCTRINE IN POETRY, SONG, AND 
SACRED ORATORY 

" Looking for that blessed hope " (Titus ii. 13). 
What class of poets have written about the Lord's 
return ? What place does it occupy in the songs of 
Zion f What preachers have proclaimed the doctrine 
from the sacred desk f We shall pause here to listen 
for a response. 

IN POETRY AND SONG 

Europe 

219. Paul Gerhardt (1606-1676), a German theolo- 
gian, known as the Charles Wesley of Pietism, wrote 
the German hymns which inspire the heart in view of 
Christ's return.* 

1 T, pp. 228-231. 

2 Seiss, " L. T. f " p. 429 ; Abbott, p. 618 ; T, pp. 340, 341. 

3 M, II, 203. 4 M , III, 819 ; Kurtz, III, 47. 



166 THE LORD'S RETURN SEEN IX HISTORY 



220. Michael Hahn (1758-1819), of Germany, 
exulted in the hope of the speedy coming of the Lord. 1 
He was a Wurtemburg Pietist, a theologian, and a 
writer of hymns which were sung in melodious 
German strains (212). 

British Isles 

221. John Milton (1608-1674), "The Christian 
Homer," ranking with the greatest poets that ever 
lived, was a Chiliast. 2 

Milton wrote the immortal " Paradise Lost." He was 
Puritanic, insisting in 1641 that " the Church of England 
still stood in need of reformation " ; he was contradicted 
by Bishop Hall, the post-millenarian. Milton looked for 
the personal and visible reign of Christ ; declared that 
"this reign will be on earth"; that the Millennium will 
be a "judgment day" which will "extend through a 
great space of time " ; that this "judgment " will be like 
that of " Gideon, Jepthah, and others who judged Israel " ; 
that numerous passages of Scripture which he cites clearly 
sustain this doctrine. Milton looked for the "King" to 
"open the clouds" and proclaim "universal and mild 
monarchy." 3 (See 28.) 

Milton's eyes became dim in 1652. Walter S. Sander, 
in his "Essay on Milton," writes of the poet's "zeal for 
truth, for true piety." * During his last days Milton suf- 
fered intense pain, but "he would be very cheerful, and 
sing." 5 

222. Alexander Pope (1688-1744), of England, 
was reared under Eomish influence, and yet with 

1 « UEP Ency. ; Americana," 1905, Vol. X, « Millen." ; " Cham. 
Ency.," IV, 542. 

2 Seiss, " L. T.," p. 430; T, pp. 178, 179; M. E. hymn 915, ed. 
1877 5 consult his " Reformation in England " ; read III, 333-338 ; 
XII, 531-555 of" Paradise Lost." 

3 T, pp. 178, 179. 4 M, VI, 285. * M> lbidt . also In> 668> 



POETRY AND ORATORY 167 



bold and independent spirit lie writes of the Millen- 
nium and gives a literal interpretation to Scripture 
language describing its scenes. D. T. Taylor quotes 
two pages from Pope's " Messiah." 1 Pope wrote the 
"Essay on Man." 

223. Augustus Toplady (1740-1778), who wrote 
"Rock of Ages," and other sacred hymns, was a 
very strong Chiliast. 2 

Toplady writes with English honesty : "I am one of 
those old-fashioned people who believe in the doctrine of 
the Millennium, and that there will be two distinct resurrec- 
tions of the dead : (1) of the just, and (2) of the unjust ; 
which last resurrection of the reprobate will not commence 
until a thousand years after the resurrection of the elect. 
In this glorious interval of a thousand years Christ will 
reign in person over the kingdom of the just" 3 (Rev. xx. 4). 

224. Horatius Bonar (1808-1889), of Scotland, 
was a pre-millenarian.* He was a deeply spiritual 
man, a prolific writer, and a beloved hymnologist. 
His brother Andreiv, of probably equal merit, was a 
Chiliast. 5 Charles Wesley (187) and Reginald Heber 
(298) were pre-millenarians. 

225. In America George Duffield (1794-1869) 
and numerous other writers are deserving of mention. 
Duffield wrote, " Stand up, stand up for Jesus," and 
other familiar hymns. He wrote " Millenarianism 
Defended," from which we have quoted. 6 (See 18.) 
He was a learned and able writer. 

1 T, pp. 282, 283. Seiss, " L. T.," p. 431. 

2 S-H, VII, 378 ; « Cham. Ency.," VII, 199. 

3 « Works," 1825, III, 470. 

4 S-H, VII, 378 ; Seiss, « L.T., " p. 428 ; Brown, « Sec. Adv.," p. 27. 

5 Brown, Ibid., p. 341. 

6 Seiss, « L. T.," p. 412 ; T, p. 345 ; M, sup., II, 305. 



168 THE LOKD'S EETUEN SEEN IN HISTOEY 



IN SACKED ORATORY 

Europe 

Among distinguished preachers worthy of mention 
just a few are here introduced. In Europe we have 
heard Savonarola (130). We cannot pass the great 
French pulpit orator, Massillon. 

226. J. B. Massillon (1 663-1 742) was a Roman 
Catholic bishop ! And Luther was a Catholic monk. 
Massillon denounced the corruption of Rome ; disregarded 
her dogmas ; censured the king ; preached repentance 
constantly; spared no rank of society; called the St. 
Bartholomew massacre (142) "a bloody wrong to be ever 
condemned in the name of religion as well as of human- 
ity." 1 

Massillon said : "In the days of primitive Christianity 
it would have been deemed a kind of apostasy not to sigh 
for the return of the Lord." 2 

British Isles 

227. George Whitefield (1714-1770), of England, 
looked for no Millennium before the return of Christ 
(200). 3 

Whitefield was an eloquent and spiritual evangelist; 
visited America seven times ; established an orphanage at 
Savannah, Georgia. 

On the coming of the Bridegroom Whitefield says : 
"'Where is the promise of His coming?' But perhaps 
to-day, perhaps this midnight, the cry may be made. 
. . . Let that cry, Behold, the Bridegroom cometh ! 
be continually sounding in your ears, and begin now to 
live as though you were assured that this night you were 
to go forth to meet Him " 4 (2 Pet. iii. 4; Matt. xxv. 6). 

Whitefield warns that "ere long," and "in a little 
while," and " very shortly " Christ will return. 

1 M, V, 870 ; " Univ. Cy." in loc. J " Plain Truths," p. 27. 
3 Pre (Picket, Sims, Nast). 4 Gillie, « Memoirs " ; T, p. 260, 



POETRY AND OEATOEY 169 



Note : If we knew positively that to-night Christ would 
come, what effect would this knowledge have (i) on our 
spiritual lives and (2) on our efforts to secure the salvation 
of others ? 

228. Robert Hall (1764-1831), the celebrated 
Baptist preacher, orator and author, occupied pre- 
millennial ground. 1 He says " the great Redeemer 
will again appear upon the earth as the judge and 
ruler of it." 2 

229. C. H. Spurgeon (1834-1892), the great 
London Baptist preacher, was an earnest pre- 
millenarian. 

Spurgeon admitted 20,000 members to his church; 
founded and maintained the Stockwell Orphanage and the 
Pastor's College ; wrote many valuable works. 

Spurgeon says: " I do look for His pre-millennial ad- 
vent, and expect He will come here again. Jesus our 
Lord is to be King of all the earth, and rule all nations in 
a glorious personal reign." 3 

230. John Cumming (1810-1881), the eminent and 
remarkably eloquent Scotch preacher, was a strong 
advocate of this faith. 4 

Cumming preached before Queen Victoria, to her great 
delight. She thanked him. His church was constantly 
overflowed with people. " Dr. Cumming was equally 
noted as an opponent of the Church of Rome and as a 
believer in the speedy advent of Christ." 5 

See Thomas Chalmers (218) and Edward Irving 
(163). 

1 Abbott, p. 618; T, pp. 263, 264. 
8 Museum of Antiq., Phil., 1880. 

3 « Plain Truths," p. 31. * Schaff-Herzog, VII, 378. 

s M, II, 196. 



170 THE LOED'S EETUEN SEEN IN HISTOEY 



America 

231. Lorenzo Dow (1777-1834), of America, held 
the first carnp-nieeting in England in 1807. Camp- 
meetings were disapproved by the Wesley an Con- 
ference, and this led to the founding of the Primitive 
Methodist denomination. 1 

Dow, who was born in Connecticut, was an eccentric, 
talented, spiritual man. He rode from forty to fifty miles 
and preached from four to five times every day. " His 
final efforts were directed against the Jesuits, whose in- 
fluence he thought would be fatal to the country." 2 He 
writes: "The signs are portentous. Let all the Israel of 
God be in a state of readiness for the coming of the 
Lord." 3 

232. Bishop J. K. Henshaw (1792-1852), whose 
voice rang with great earnestness and eloquence, was 
an able exponent of this faith. 4 

He was an Episcopalian bishop whose "moral power 
was very great indeed." 5 

233. Stephen H. Tyng (1800-1885), of Massachu- 
setts, a very able and evangelical preacher, was a 
pre-millenarian. 6 

He wrote numerous books and was editor at different 
times of several religious periodicals. He wrote the in- 
troduction to "Foster's Cyclopedia of Illustrations." 

234. D wight L. Moody (1837-1899), who ad- 
dressed 50,000,000 people, preached the imminent 
and pre-millennial return of Christ. 

Moody, who was born in Massachusetts, built up in 
Chicago a Sunday-school of one thousand children. He 

" " Univ. Cy.," II, 313. 2 M, II, 880. 

3 " Journal, App.," p. 2 ; T, pp. 283, 284. 

* Seiss, p. 416 ; T, pp. 345, 353. » M, IV, 1 89. 

6 Seiss, p. 432 ; Abbott, p. 618 ; T, p. 345. 



POETEY AND OEATOEY 171 



founded four educational institutions including that in 
Chicago which bears his name. With Ira D. Sankey 
he conducted great and spiritual evangelistic campaigns in 
Great Britain and America. 

Hear Moody speak : " There is hardly any church that 
doesn't make a great deal of baptism ; but in all of Paul's 
Epistles I believe baptism is only spoken of thirteen times, 
while it speaks about the return of the Lord fifty times; 
and yet the Church has very little to say about it. Now, 
I can see a reason for this; the devil does not want us to 
see this truth, for nothing would wake up the Church so 
much. The moment a man takes hold of the truth that 
Jesus Christ is coming back again to receive His followers 
to Himself, this world loses its hold upon him. Gas stocks 
and water stocks and stocks in banks and railroads are of 
very much less consequence to him then." 

"The Church is cold and formal; may God wake it 
up ! And 1 know of no better way to do it than to get the 
Church to look for the return of our Lord." 1 

235. T. DeWitt Talmage (1832-1902) boldly 
proclaimed the primitive faith, looking for the pre- 
millennial return of the Lord. 

Talmage was known throughout the civilized world as a 
traveller, writer, and great pulpit orator. Thirty million 
people read his sermons weekly in the periodicals of the 
world. His advent views and utterances are familiar to 
all (7, 21, 27). 

236. Time would fail us were we to attempt to 
even mention the names of prominent holiness 
evangelists throughout America who with hearts 
aflame and voices clear and strong are warning the 
wicked and inspiring believers with the hope of the 
imminent and pre-millennial return of the Christ of 
Calvary. " Be ye therefore ready. ' 7 

237. Dr. Hugh McNeil's Exhortation. In tak- 

Quoted by Sims, " Shadows," pp. 221, 222, 224. 



172 THE LOED'S EETUEN SEEN IN HISTOEY 



ing our departure we hear this appeal from an 
emineut and godly preacher : 

"My reverend brethren, watch, preach the coming of 
Jesus. I charge you, in the name of our common Master, 
— Preach the coming of Jesus ; solemnly and affectionately, 
in the name of God, I charge you, — Preach the co7ning of 
Jesus. Watch ye, therefore, lest coming suddenly, He 
find the porter sleeping." 1 



XXVIII. — EMINENTLY SPIRITUAL PEOPLE 

"Be diligent that ye be found of Him in peace, without spot, 
and blameless "(2 Pet. iii. 14). 

In following Chiliasm from the days of primitive 
Christianity down to modern times we have observed 
that holiness people were its most zealous advocates. 
Let us gaze for a short time at a few stars of the first 
magnitude. 

Europe 

238. David Joris (1502-1556), of Holland, was a 
very spiritual Anabaptist leader. He is a fair repre- 
sentative of those persecuted people. 

Joris opposes the establishment of religious authority by 
the sword ; consoles the dying ; labours to revive piety ; 
holds the doctrines of the Montanists (58-62); declares 
that holiness is attainable in this life, insisting upon "the 
death of our old man" ; declares that Christ lives in his 
heart — his " hope of glory." 2 

239. John Arndt (J 555-1621), the devout German 
Pietist, is well known to readers of deeply spiritual 
literature. 

1 Quoted by Blackstone, " Jesus is Coming," p. 1 16. 

2 M, IV, ion ; Mosheim, " Eccl. Hist.," Vol, IV. 



EMINENTLY SPIEITUAL PEOPLE 173 



He wrote "True Christianity," a book which had a 
sale exceeding that of Bunyan's " Pilgrim's Progress " and 
of Baxter's "Saint's Rest." "His chief peculiarity was 
his heart religion, in which respect he was the Spener (241) 
and Wesley (185) of his time." He was a "revivalist." 
Francke (242) and Gerhardt (219) were his pupils. 1 

240. John Piscator (1546-1625), of Germany, 
" noted for learning and piety," would have us 
watch for the Lord's return. 

He writes: "The advent of the Lord is to be looked 
for with perpetual vigilance, — especially by ministers of 
the Word." 2 

241. P. J. Spener (1635-1705), of the province of 
Alsace, was the father of Pietism. He was distin- 
guished for his piety. He was highly educated, and 
stood as a very strong exponent of pre-millennial 
faith. 3 

Spener was "one of the most remarkable personages in 
the Church of the seventeenth century." 4 He was nursed 
on the knee of piety ; read " True Christianity " while yet 
a child (239) ; constantly cultivated habits of secret 
prayer; "to do no sin was his great concern. . . . 
He was eminently pure." 5 

Spener was defamed and persecuted ; was fond of the 
" Sermon on the Mount " ; established prayer meetings ; 
rebuked immorality. "The followers of Spener con- 
sidered sanctiflcation an indispensable condition of re- 
demption, and were very strict in their moral principles." 6 

Francke (242), Joachim Lange and numerous other 

1 M, I, 429 ; VIII, 193. 

3 T, p. 143. See M, VIII, 230 ; Brown, « Sec. Adv.," p. 230. Pis- 
cator was Professor of Theology at Strasburg and Heidelberg, and 
a Chiliast (Brooks, " El. Proph. Int.," p. 70). 

3 M, IX, 923; S-H, VII, 376; Gieseler, V, 289; " UEP." 

4 M, IX, 921. 6 M, IX, 921, 923. • Gieseler, V, 289. 



174 THE LOBD'S EETUEX SEEN IX HISTOEY 



Chiliasts were appointed by Spener as professors at Halle, 
the educational centre of Pietism. 1 

242. A. H. Francke (1663-1727), another eminent 
German Pietist, is worthy of special mention. 

Wesley says, " I learned that the earnest religion which 
I found in so many parts of Germany is of but late date, 
having taken its rise from one man, August Herman 
Francke ! " 2 

Francke, like the Pietists generally, was a Chiliast. 3 
He was a philanthropist, theologian, Halle professor; 
strong in faith, baptized with the Holy Ghost; strict 
moral disciplinarian; holding "an excessive number of 
prayers." Spener (241) moulded the life and doctrines of 
this " eminently pious divine." 4 Francke's Orphan House 
will never be forgotten (188, 302). 

243. Jung Stilling (1740-1817), of Germany, was a 
humble and deeply spiritual man. He was a pre- 
millenarian. 5 

His home was a sanctuary ; he aroused people to holy 
living and constant watching. " Thousands of his con- 
temporaries expended on him in equal measure their 
veneration and their love." 6 

Omitting with sorrow the names of a host of others 
equally deserving of mention, we hasten across the 
English Channel to Great Britain. 

British Isles 

244. Samuel Rutherford (1600-1661), the pious 
Scotch Covenanter, exulted in the hope of the speedy 
return of the Lord. 

1 M, IX, 922. 2 " Works," Lond., 1830, ed. 3, II, 93. 

3 Gieseler, » Ch. Hist.," V, 293. 

* M, IX, 922; III, 653; « Cham. Ency." 

* « Cham. Ency.," VII, 299 ; « UEP." « M, IX, 1027. 



EMINENTLY SPIRITUAL PEOPLE 175 



The " seraphic Rutherford" exclaims: "The day is 
near the dawning, the sky is riving, our Beloved will be on 
us ever we be aware. . . . Christ will be on us in 
haste. . . . Watch but a little and, ere long, the 
skies shall rend . . . and Jesus will come in the 
clouds. . . . The day of the Lord is near at hand. 
. . . Avouch the royal crown and absolute supremacy 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Prince of the kings of the 
earth, as becometh, for certain it is that Christ will reign 
the Father's king in Mount Zion, and His sworn covenant 
will not be buried. . . . Persuade yourself that the 
king is coming. 

"The wife of youth, that wants her husband some years, 
and expects he shall return to her from over sea lands, is 
often on the shore ; every ship coming near is her new 
joy; her heart loves the wind that shall bring him home." 1 

Page after page of similar matter can be quoted from 
Rutherford. 

245. Joseph Alleine (1623-1668), of England, was 
an "eminently pious nonconformist divine" who 
rejoiced in the hope of the coming of the Lord. His 
" Alarm to the Unconverted " has had a very wide 
circulation. 

Alleine was imprisoned a year with seven ministers and 
fifty Quakers, and he was heavily fined under the charge 
of preaching. He died by subsequent imprisonment. 

Writing to his flock he says : " But now, my brethren, I 
shall not so much call upon you to remember the resur- 
rection of Christ, as the return of Christ. . . . This 
is the day I look for and wait for. . . . Oh, how sure 
is the thing ! How near is the time ! How glorious will 
His appearing be ! " 2 

246. John Bunyan (1628-1688), " the immortal 

1 « Letters," N. Y., 1861, Rob't Carter Bros. See pp. 37, 62, 77, 
89, 94, in, 276, 349, 367, 460, 470, 507, 549. 

2 Brooks, « El. Proph. Int.," p. 98; T, pp. 186, 187 ; and see M, I, 
162. 



176 THE LORD'S RETURN SEEN IN HISTORY 

tinker/' who was imprisoned twelve years in Bedford 
jail for the preaching of the Gospel, and who wrote 
u Pilgrim's Progress " while languishing behind those 
humble study walls, believed with Joseph Mede 
(279) in the personal reign of Christ during the 
Millennium. 1 

Bunyan was an English Baptist. We note some of 
his views. 

Where Zechariah (xiv. 4) says of Christ, " His feet 
shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives," 
Bunyan takes a position against the allegorizers and says, 
"This is the day of His second coming." He asks: 
" Where is the Mount of Olives ? Not within thee ! But 
that which is without Jerusalem, before it, on the east 
side." 2 

Bunyan says the earth will last six thousand years ; the 
Sabbatic rest will then be enjoyed, ending the travail and 
toil of saints and removing the curse from the beasts ; this 
"Sabbath," this "day of the Lord," will last a thousand 
years; "in the seventh thousand years of the world will 
be that Sabbath when Christ shall set up His kingdom on 
earth, according to that which is written, < They lived and 
reigned with Christ a thousand years ' ; " this will be after 
" the redemption or resurrection of the saints " 3 (Rev. xx. 
4). 

247. Richard Baxter (1615-1691), author of the 
" Reformed Pastor " and of the " Saint's Rest," re- 
joiced in the thought of the imminent return of the 
Lord. 

This pious English author writes : " Though I have not 
skill enough in the exposition of hard prophecies to make 
a particular determination about the thousand years' reign 
of Christ on earth before the final judgment, yet I may say 



1 T, p. 166. * « Works," V, 486 ; T, 200. 

3 " Works," VI, 301, 329; T, pp. 200, 201. 



EMINENTLY SPIEITUAL PEOPLE 177 



that I cannot confute what such learned men as Mr. Mede 
(279), Dr. Twiss (280) and others, after the old Fathers, 
have hereof asserted." 1 

Baxter says the saints are not characterized by their de- 
sire to die. " It is the presence of their Lord that they 
desire, but it is death that they abhor, and therefore, 
though they cannot submit to death, it is the coming of 
Christ that they love and long for. . . . Believers 
should long and pray for the second coming of Christ. 
. . . This is the day that all believers should long, and 
hope, and pray for. . . . Hasten, O Lord, this 
blessed day ! . . . Though the riotous would say my 
Lord delayeth His coming, yet the saints lift up their 
heads, for their redemption draweth nigh." 2 

248. Matthew Mead (1629-1699), an English In- 
dependent who had been ejected for non-conformity, 
looked for the visible appearance of the Lord before 
the Millennium. 3 

Mede was a remarkably spiritual man, a close friend of 
the Duke of Orange, and "the strongest personal link be- 
tween the Independents and the Presbyterians."* He 
wrote "The Almost Christian," one of the most search- 
ing books on Christian experience ever given to the 
Church. 

249. Benjamin Keach (1640-1704), an English 
expositor of the parables, and a man of great piety, 
was a pre-millenarian, 5 together with many other 
eminently spiritual men, among whom is found Isaac 
Ambrose (1591-1674). Ambrose wrote on holiness. 
His " Looking Unto Jesus" is excellent. 6 

1 " Works," II, 513 ; T, p. 183. (See « Fathers," 36-56.) 
J " Works," XVII, 500; " Rest," ch. 11 ; see " Works," II, 5 13 ; 
XVII, 555 ; IV, 164, 931 ; T, pp. 182-184. 

3 T, pp. 203, 204. 4 M, VI, 1. 

5 Seiss, " L. T.," p. 418 ; M, V, 25. 

6 Seiss, Ibid., p. 428; T, p. 184. 



178 THE LOED'S BETUKN SEEN IN HISTOET 



America 

On reaching America, a large volume might be 
written concerning the general prevalence of pre- 
millennial faith in the holiness world. Therefore we 
shall hasten onward after pausing a moment to men- 
tion the name of Phoebe Palmer who helped to in- 
troduce this subject and who spoke of its importance 
in the preaching of the ministry (lc). 

250. Phoebe Palmer ( 1807-1874), of New York City, 
was a woman whose name became synonymous with the 
word holiness. She was " simple in manner, and plain in 
person and dress, even to severity." She was " one of the 
most noted American women of our day, celebrated not 
only for many philanthropic labours, but for an unusually 
pious life." 1 



XXIX.— THE WORLD OF LEARNING 
"Five of thein were wise " (Matt. xxv. 2). 
251. The doctrine of the imminent and pre-mil- 
lennial return of the Lord has been held and taught 
by men who have occupied the highest positions in 
the greatest seats of learning. 

Macaulay, in his "Essays on the Jews," written in 
1831 7 speaks of the prevalence of this faith in Eng- 
land : 

"Many Christians believe that the Messiah will shortly 
establish a kingdom on earth and reign visibly over all its 
inhabitants. . . . Many of those who hold the doc- 
trine are distinguished by rank, wealth and ability ; it is 
preached from the pulpits both of the Scottish and English 
Church. Noblemen and members of Parliament have 
written in defense of it." 

1 M, VII, 597, introducing an extended sketch. 



WOELD OF LEAENING 179 



Many of the leading educators in the German Em- 
pire are conspicuously identified with the promotion 
of Chiliasm. France is well represented. America 
was rocked in this cradle. 

Early Neio England 
The Puritans, the Pilgrim Fathers, brought Chili- 
asm to New England on the Mayflower in 1620 (149). 
There it grew and multiplied. 

252. John Clark, a Baptist preacher, writes from 
Boston in 1651, saying : 

" I testify that Jesus of Nazareth . . . who is gone 
unto His Father for His glorious kingdom, shall ere long 
return again . . . and wait in His appointments as 
the Lord, in hope of that glorious kingdom which shall 
ere long appear." 1 

253. Increase Mather (1639-1723), a pious, emi- 
nent and eloquent preacher who won many souls for 
Christ, was " the most learned minister of his day," 
being president of Harvard College for fifteen years. 2 
He was a Chiliast. 3 

Increase Mather wrote : " You must not only look for, 
not only believe that such a day will come, but you 
must hasten to it — that is, by earnest desire and longing 
wishes." 4 

254. Cotton Mather (1662-1728), son of Increase, 
taught the faith of his father relative to the return of 
the Lord. 5 Although scarcely the equal of his father, 
Cotton was an able preacher, a prodigy of learning 
and ability, a writer of 383 works. 

1 " Plain Truths," p. 31. 2 M, V, 876. 

3 Seiss, p. 420 ; Brown, p. 37 1; T, p. 231. 

4 " Plain Truths," p. 27. 5 Seiss, p. 430; T, pp. 255-259. 



180 THE LOED'S RETURN SEEN IN HISTOEY 



Cotton Mather introduced vaccination for smallpox. 
Samuel Mather, son of Cotton, was a pre-millenarian, and 
this was the faith generally of the early preachers of New 
England. 1 

255. Thomas Prince, pastor of the Old South 
Church of Boston, was a learned Chiliast. 2 

Chauncy says of Prince (17 28-1 75 8) : " He was second 
in learning to none but Cotton Mather in New England," 
and Spalding observes that he made the prophecies the 
" favourite study of his life." 3 

256. B. Gale (1751-1790), whose body lies at 
Killingworth, Connecticut, was a pre-millenarian. 
On his monument this epitaph is seen : 

"In memory of Dr. Benjamin Gale, who, after a life of 
usefulness in his profession, and a laborious study of the 
prophecies, fell asleep May 6, a. d. 1790, aged seventy- 
five, fully expecting to rise again under the Messiah, and 
to reign with Him on earth." 4 

2 57- Joshua Spalding, 5 with other ministers of 
the Salem Tabernacle in early colonial days, was 
strong in this faith. The fathers have fallen asleep. 

EMINENT WRITERS 

Europe 

258. Friedrich Oetinger (1702-1782), of Ger- 
many, voluminous writer, friend of Bengel (264), 
frequent visitor at Herrnhut (212), distinguished 
theologian, was a Chiliast. 6 This, too, was the faith 
of Johann Hess (1741-1828), 7 a versatile writer and 

1 M, V, 875 ; T, p. 259 ; see 149 with notes. 

2 " Life of Mather " and Spalding's " Lectures," T, p. 28S. 

3 Ibid. 4 Ibid. ; T, p. 289. 

5 T, pp. 277-279, quoting " Lectures." 

6 « Cham. Ency.," VII, 199 ; " UEP." ' Ibid., Seiss, p. 416. 



WOELD OF LEAEMNG 181 



" one of the most eminent divines of the Swiss Ee- 
formed Church." 

259. J- J- Van Oosterzee (1817-1882), the emi- 
nent Dutch theologian, was a voluminous writer and 
a strong pre-millenarian. 1 

He assisted in the preparation of the old " Herzog En- 
cyclopedia. " "In learning, eloquence and piety he ranked 
among the greatest divines of his age." 2 

This learned writer says, " All the apostolic exhorta- 
tions and consolations are so closely connected with the 
prospect of the personal return of the Lord, that whoever 
contradicts this last takes away the roof and cornice from 
the structure of apostolic theology. ' ' 3 

British Isles 

260. On the British Isles time would fail us even 
to mention the names of distinguished writers such as 
John Gill, 4 an eminent Baptist theologian, finished 
Latin and Greek scholar, and learned Orientalist ; 
and George Gilfillan, 5 the learned Scotch biographer 
who wrote " Bards of the Bible. " 

America 

261. American Writers of distinction who hold 
this doctrine are equally numerous. It was the faith of 
David Nelson 6 whose u Cause and Cure of Infidelity " 
is an able defense of the Christian religion, and the 
doctrine was taught by Harriet Beecher Stowe, author 
of " Uncle Tom's Cabin," 7 and by a long line of able 

*" Cham. Ency.," VII, 200. 2 M, sup., II, 751. 

3 « Plain Truths," p. 27. « Pre (Seiss, " Apoc," III, 307). 
8 M, VI, 267 ; M, sup., II, 455 ; pre. 
6 Tennessee (1793-1844); pre (T, p. 345). 

7 Connecticut (1811-1896); pre (Sims, "Shadows," pp. 241- 
256). 



182 THE LOKD'S EETUEN SEEN IN HISTOEY 



writers whose names have been recorded as expositors 
of the sacred Scriptures. 1 

BIBLE EXPOSITORS, COMMENTATORS AND EXEGETES 

Many of the brightest luminaries in the world of 
hermeneutics have thrown clear light upon the doc- 
trine of the personal and pre-millennial return of 
Christ. A few of them we now observe. 

Europe 

262. John Cocceius (1603-1669), of Germany, 
taught 44 a visible reign of Christ in this world." 2 

He was "one of the most distinguished theologians and 
Biblical interpreters of the seventeenth century." He was 
an expert in Greek, Hebrew, Chaldee, Arabic and Rab- 
binical literature. He was professor of philosophy at 
Bremen, of theology at Franeker; succeeded the cele- 
brated Spanheim at Leyden ; wrote a Hebrew lexicon ; 
was vast in learning; " mighty in the Spirit, and far in ad- 
vance of most men of his time in his apprehension of the 
work of God in Christ." 3 

263. Charles Daubuz (1670-1740), a French com- 
mentator of the highest rank, is acknowledged by 
Professor Bush to have been 44 the ablest of all com- 
mentators on the visions of John."* Daubuz pub- 
lished his Commentary in London in 1720. Elliott 
gives an abstract. 5 Daubuz was a Chiliast. 

264. J. A. Bengel (1687-1751), the learned Ger- 
man Pietist, was a pre-millenarian. 6 He was a 
master in Greek exegesis, and a 44 theologian of pro- 

1 Seiss, " Last Times," and Taylor, " Voice," give records. 

2 " Eng. Ency. "; T, p. 221. 3 M, II, 395-397. 
4 T, p. 236. * u Horse Apoc," IV, 491-495. 

« S-H, VII, 376; « Cham. Ency.," VII, 199 ; " UEP " ; Brown, p. 
230; T, pp. 243-245. 



WOELD OF LEAKNING 183 



found critical judgment, extensive learning, and solid 
piety.' 7 1 

265. Lacunza (1731-1801), born in South America, 
was reared a Catholic and became a Jesuit. He 
came to Europe, saw clear light, obeyed his convic- 
tions and gave his pen to the cause of truth. 

Lacunza settled in Italy, assumed the name " Ben 
Ezra" ; wrote a chiliastic work entitled "The Coming of 
Messiah in Glory and Majesty," which was translated by 
Edward Irving (163). The book was condemned and 
suppressed by Rome. 2 

266. R. E. Stier (1800-1862), a German Pietist, 
was an incessant Bible student. 

He is " known as an interpreter wherever the evangel- 
ical Church extends," and his works "have been very 
widely circulated." 3 

267. Peter Lange (1802-1884), the eminent Ger- 
man commentator, was a Chiliast, 4 together with 
many able contemporaries. 

British Isles 

Coming over to the British Isles we are greeted by 
strong characters who add their names as faithful 
witnesses. 

268. Archbishop James Usher (1580-1656), the 
learned and famous Irish chronologist, turned from 
Augustine's spiritual theory (86) as a result of close 
study, and became a pre-millenarian. 5 Dublin Uni- 
versity has his library. 

1 M, I, 749. 3 Elliott, IV, 513-519. 

3 M, IX, 1024, 1025 ; " Crit. Doct. Horn. Com. Matt," p. 449. 

4 " Cham. Ency.," VII, 200; « UEP." Also Joachim Lange, 241, 
pre. 

5 Brooks, " Elements Proph. Int.," p. 89 ; Mede, " Works," book 
iv, p. 851. 



184 THE LOED'S EETUEN SEEN IN HISTOEY 



269. Matthew Henry (1662-1714), the celebrated 
English Dissenter, is known throughout the Christian 
world by his spiritual Commentary on the Bible. Let 
us examine the following condensation of his views : 1 

(a) The mixture of good and evil as we now see it will 
last till the harvest, till the winnowing day comes. " The 
world will grow no better, no, not when it is drawing 
towards its period. Bad it is, and bad it will be, and 
worst of all just before Christ's coming." 

(b) Of the wicked, Henry says : " They will still at- 
tack us till the end of time ; till our Lord is come, they 
will not themselves believe that He will come, nay, 
they will laugh at the very mention of His second coming, 
and do what in them lies to put all out of countenance who 
seriously believe and wait for it." 

. (c) Christ will come at the time when men least ex- 
pect Him. The day will be near, when the wicked put it 
far off. 

(d) " To watch implies not only to believe that our 
Lord will come, but to desire that He would come, to be 
often thinking of His coming, and always looking for it as 
sure and near, and the time of it uncertain." 

(e) The apocalyptic angel descending with a key, seiz- 
ing and binding Satan, is Christ. 

(f) " Those that have suffered with Christ upon earth 
shall reign with Him upon earth. This the whole creation 
looks and longs for." 

270. William Lowth (1661-1732) was a distin- 
guished English divine who was elected to a scholar- 
ship at Oxford when only fourteen years old. He 
taught Chiliasm. 2 

Lowth became prebend of Winchester ; read and an- 
notated almost every Greek and Latin author ; wrote a 
scholarly commentary on the Bible which is regarded by 

1 See T, pp. 208-212, giving full quotations, citing passages. 

2 Taylor quotes his forceful and specific words (T, pp. 279-280). 



WOBLD OF LEABNING 185 



Coutson as the best in the English language. Lowth dwells 
upon prophecy. 1 

271. Bishop Thomas Newton (1704-1782), 
author of " Dissertations on the Prophecies," was a 
strong Ohiliast. 2 

Newton was distinguished for his piety and extensive re- 
search. Wesley endorsed his "Dissertations" (194). 
Adam Clarke quotes from them frequently and in some 
places at considerable length. 

272. Dr. Alexander Keith (1791-1880), of the 
Free Church of Scotland, who visited Bible lands and 
wrote a noted work on prophecy, makes the return of 
the Lord pre-millennial. 3 

Keith wrote < < Fulfilled Prophecy," the "Signs of the 
Times," and other works. 

273. Edward Greswell and Archbishop R. C. 
Trench, able expositors of the parables, teach the 
same doctrine relative to the second advent. 

Greswell (1 797-1869), vice-president of Corpus Christi 
College, was an English ecclesiastical writer. His " Exposi- 
tions of the Parables," in five volumes, is a valuable work. 
He was a Chiliast. 4 

Trench (1807-1886), who writes on the "Parables" 
and "Miracles" of our Lord, and on "Christ the Desire 
of All Nations," and also on numerous other subjects, was 
a pre-millenarian. 5 

274. Alfred and Tregelles, occupying the fore- 
most rank as Greek exegetes, contribute their 
testimonies. 

1 M, V, 534. 2 Seiss, p. 431 ; Brown, p. 223 ; T, pp. 248-250. 

3 Seiss, p. 418 ; T, p. 339. 

4 Seiss, « Last Times," Appen. ; M, VI, 267 ; Ibid., sup., II, 486. 

5 Trench, pre (Schaff-Herzog, VII, 378 ; " Cham. Ency.," VII, 
200). 



186 THE LOBD'S RETURN SEEN IN HISTORY 

Dean Henry Alford (1810-1871), whose critical " Greek 
New Testament ' ' won for him an enviable reputation as an 
exegete, is a well-known English Chiliast. 1 He says : 
" The Lord will come in person to this earth. His risen 
elect will reign here with Him." This was the faith "of 
His primitive apostolical Church." 2 

S. L. Tregelles (1813-1875), of England, was reared in 
a Quaker family, became a Plymouth Brother, a philan- 
thropist, and an illustrious Greek and Hebrew exegete. 
Like all the Plymouth Brethren, he was a pre-millenarian. 3 

275. Bishop C. J. Ellicott (1819-1905) of England 
is known by his critical commentaries on the Epistles 
of St. Paul, which placed him in the front rank of 
Biblical scholars. For eleven years he was chairman 
of the New Testament revisers. He is a Chiliast. 4 

276. We cannot speak particularly of Dr. E. B. 
Elliott, whose "Horse Apocalypticse 1" is encyclopedic 
in erudition ; nor of Thomas Beverly, a learned 
Presbyterian who wrote extensively on prophecy ; 
nor of J. W. Brooks, author of ' ' The Elements of 
Prophetical Interpretation " ; nor of scores of others 
whose writings merit highest commendation and who 
taught that the Lord's return will be pre-millennial. 

America 

277. Stuart and Seiss, in America, were dis- 
tinguished advocates of this doctrine, together with 
many others of high rank whom we are obliged to 
pass without mention. 

Moses Stuart (1780-185 2), highest honour graduate 
from Yale in 1799, was a lawyer, an able exegete, pro- 

1 Schaff-Herzog, VII, 378. 2 « Plain Truths," p. 27. 

3 Pickett, " Hope," p. 197. 

* S-H, VII, 378; " Cham. Ency.," VII, 200. 



WOELD OF LEARNING 187 



fessor of sacred literature at Andover nearly forty years. 
He refused a doctor's title. On his monument is this in- 
scription : "The father of Biblical Science in his native 
country." 1 He was a Chiliast. 2 

Joseph A. Seiss (1823-1904), of Maryland, " a preacher 
of extraordinary power," 3 editor of The Lutheran, and a 
leader in his denomination, wrote the justly celebrated 
" Lectures on the Apocalypse," which have been translated 
into the German and other languages. 4 

DISTINGUISHED EDUCATORS AND DENOMINATIONAL 
LEADERS 

In the educational institutions of the world we 
find distinguished representatives of pre-millennial 
doctrines. Many of the ablest leaders in the various 
branches of the Christian Church have been the 
strongest champions of the primitive faith. We 
shall introduce a few representatives. 

Europe 

278. John H. Alsted (1588-1638), of Germany, 
professor of philosophy and theology at Nassau, and 
representative at the Synod of Dort, was a pre- 
millenarian. 5 And this was the faith of Professor 
Paul de Godet 6 (1649-1709) of France, who founded 
four seminaries and gave all his revenue to the poor. 7 
Another French champion of Chiliasm is seen in 
Professor Jurieu, 8 whose learning was profound and 
whose charity to the poor exceeded his means. 9 

1 M, X, 1067, 1068. 2 Seiss, " Apoc," III, 310, 320, 321. 

3 "Univ. Cycle," X, 414. * A natural, chiliastic exegesis. 

5 T, p. 222; M, I, 177. 

6 "Cham. Ency.," VII, 200 ; M, sup., II, 463. ' M, Ibid. 

8 Jurieu (1637-1713); pre, S-H, VII, 376; "Cham.," VII, 199; 
M, II, 55. 

9 M, IV, 1 1 00. 



188 THE LOBD'S EETUEN SEEN IN HISTOEY 



C. A. Crucius, the German Pietist who occupied the 
chair of philosophy and theology at Leipsic, was 
another able exponent of this faith. 1 H. W. Thiersch, 
the German historian, and the strong Tertullian 
(52) of the Irvingites, is another distinguished repre- 
sentative. 2 He also, as a professor of ancient lan- 
guages, was the author of a Greek Grammar. G. W. 
Nitzsch, another German professor of ancient litera- 
ture and classical philology, taught the apostolic 
faith. 3 Eichard Eothe, a theological professor from 
Prussian soil j 4 J. H. A. Ebrard, German professor 
of theology at Zurich and Erlangen ; 5 together with 
Comenius (146), Poiret (156), and numerous others, 
were pre-millenarians. 

British Isles 

279. Joseph Mede, 6 of England, " a pious and pro- 
foundly learned man," 7 was Greek lecturer at Cam- 
bridge, and was noted as an antiquarian, philosopher, 
mathematician, philologist, linguist and logician. 
He was a strong Chiliast. 

280. William Twiss, president of the West- 
minster Assembly in England (151), was a prominent 
advocate of this faith. 8 Jeremiah Burroughs, a 

1 Crucius (1715-1775) ; pre (M, II, 596; Kurtz, III, 108). 

2 Thiersch (1784- 1860) ; pre ("UEP," and others). 

3 Nitzsch (1790-1861); pre ("UEP"; "Univ. Cycle," VIII 
494)- 

*Rothe (1799-1867); pre ("UEP"; S-H, VII, 376; "Univ. 
Cy.," X, 191). 

s Ebrard (1818-1888) ; pre (S-H, VII, 376; "Cham.," VII, 
200). 

e Mede (1586- 1638); pre (M, VI, 266; "UEP"; "Cham.," 
VII, 199). 

» M, VI, 13, 14. 

8 Twiss (1575-1646) ; pre (T, pp. 172, 188). 



WOELD OP LEAENING 189 



learned Puritan divine and a leading Independent j 1 
and Herbert Palmer, 3 master of Queen's College j 
Thomas Goodwin, president of Magdalen College ; 3 
and many other Independents and Westminster As- 
sembly divines (151), were eminent pre-millenarians. 

281. Stephen Charnock, 4 an English educator 
whose "Treatise on the Attributes of God" is u ac- 
knowledged to be the best in the English language," 5 
was a Chiliast. And this was the faith of Edward 
Wells, 6 an extensive writer on Biblical geography 
and interpretation, and Greek professor at Oxford. 

282. The Greatest Minds that England ever 
produced identify themselves as representatives of 
pre-millennial faith. 

Lord John L. Napier, 7 who wrote on Eevelation, 
is celebrated as the inventor of logarithms. Sir Isaac 
Newton, 8 the world's greatest mathematician and phys- 
icist (2), who invented the method of the calculus, 
discovered and formulated the three laws of motion, 
and who was retained as president of the Eoyal So- 
ciety of England for twenty-five years, until his 
death, was a Chiliast, as well as the u prince of phi- 
losophers." William Whiston, 9 the English mathe- 
matician who succeeded Sir Isaac Newton, was a 

1 Burroughs (1599-1646) ; M, I, 933; pre (T, pp. 194, 195). 

2 Palmer (1601-1647) ; M, VII, 597 ; pre (T, p. 188). 

3 Goodwin (1600- 1679); M, III, 926; pre (Seiss, p. 407; T, 
pp. 176-178). 

4 Charnock (1 628- 1 680); M, II, 223; pre (Seiss, p. 429; Ab- 
bott, p. 618). 

5 M, II, 223. 

6 Wells (1665-1727); M, X, 906; pre (T, p. 236). 

7 Napier (1550-1617) ; T, pp. 222, 223; M, VI, 845. 

8 Newton (1642-1727); pre ("Cham. Ency.," VII, 199; S-H, 
VII, 377). 

9 Whiston (1667-1752) ; pre (Elliott, IV, 500; M, X, 980). 



190 THE LOED'S RETURN SEEN EN HISTORY 



pre-millenariaD ; and many others appear as dis- 
tingnished representatives of this faith, among whom 
may be mentioned Michael Faraday, 1 director of Sir 
Humphrey Davy's laboratory, and known to the 
world as an expert physicist and chemist who made 
the first electric dynamo and discovered the laws of 
electrolysis. 

283. Archbishop William Newcome, 2 a great 
Bible student, was one of the most eminent divines 
of the eighteenth century. 

On Revelation xx. 4, Newcome writes: " I understand 
this not figuratively of a peaceful and flourishing state of 
the Church on earth, but literally of a real resurrection, 
and of a real reign of Christ, who will display His royal 
glory in Jerusalem. This is the great Sabbath, or rest of 
the Church." 3 

284. Bishop Samuel Horsely, 4 and R. S. Cand- 

lish, 5 must be mentioned, and then, passing all 
others, we shall proceed to America. 

Horsely, "one of the most distinguished divines ever 
produced by the Church of England," was a member of 
the Royal Society, a member of Parliament, and an ally 
of Fletcher (1S9) in the attack upon Priestly's Socinianism. 
Gibbon says of Horsely : "His spear pierced the Socini- 
an's shield." 

Candlish, of Scotland, took part in the establishing of 
the Free Church and the Evangelical Alliance (92b), and 

1 Faraday (1791-1867); pre (T, pp. 274-276; M, III, SSo). 
See 216. 

2 Newcome (1 729-1800) ; M. VII, 7 ; pre (Abbott, p. 618; T, 
p. 248). 

3 " Bickersteth on Prophecy," p. 106 ; T, p. 248. 

4 Horsely (1733-1806) ; pre ("Cham. Ency.," VII, 199; Abbott, 

Brown). 

5 Candlish (1806-1873); M i su P-> *» 7^* 7&9 ! P re (Abbott, p. 
618; T, p. 341). 



WOELD OF LEAKNING 191 



succeeded Chalmers (218) in the chair of divinity at Glas- 
gow College. 

America 

285. Bishops Chase and Mcllvaine are seen in 
America as brilliant advocates of the doctrine of the 
Apostles, together with a host of others whom we are 
obliged to pass. 

Bishop Philander Chase, 1 of New Hampshire, a graduate 
of Dartmouth, became president of Cincinnati College, 
founded Kenyon and Jubilee Colleges, and was widely 
known as an aggressive home missionary and a remarkably 
successful money raiser. He was an uncle of Salmon P. 
Chase. 

Bishop C. P. Mcllvaine, 2 of New Jersey, was a professor 
in the University of the City of New York and in other 
institutions ; president of Kenyon College, of Gambier 
Seminary, and certainly a worthy successor of Chase. 

286. Nathan Lord, 3 of Maine, and Mark Hop- 
kins,* of Massachusetts, are distinguished college 
presidents who defend the pre- millennial faith of the 
primitive Church. 

Lord, while president of Dartmouth College, sent forth 
1,824 graduates from that institution. 

Hopkins wrote numerous works, one of which is the 
" Outline Study of Man." He was president of Williams 
College. 

It is impossible to continue our progress. Hun- 
dreds of writers and preachers must pass unnoticed. 5 

1 Chase (1775-1852) ; M, II, 224; pre (T, pp. 345, 353). 
' Mcllvaine (1798- 187 3) ; pre (T, pp. 345, 353). 

3 Lord (1793-1844) ; M, V, 505 ; pre (T, p. 345). 

4 Hopkins (1802-1887) ; pre (Abbott, p. 618). 

5 See Seiss (*« Last Times," pp. 407-432) who presents a directory 
of 61 miscellaneous works incidentally teaching the doctrine of the 
pre-millennial return of Christ, and a list of 292 writers and their 
works, with full citations and other valuable data. 



192 THE LORD'S RETURN SEEK IN HISTORY 



287. The " Scofield Bible" may be consulted 
to great advantage in the study of prophecy. 

288. Higher Criticism. Modern rationalism in 
Germany and higher criticism in various parts of the 
world, which virtually reject the Bible by allegorizing 
the Scriptures, explaining away the miracles, and 
reduciug Old Testament records to the plane of 
mythology, are the natural and logical results of 
opposition to literal interpretation as found in the 
writings of the pre-millenarians. 

289. Disagreement. Hodge (16b) and others 
after him have asserted that pre-millenarians differ in 
their views. Is the doctrine of the Bible therefore 
to be set aside f On some minor points differences 
may be found. The advocates of every fundamental 
doctrine seen in the sacred Scriptures have differed 
in their views. Shall we therefore reject the Bible % 
Holiness writers differ. Shall we therefore assail the 
Bible doctrine of holiness % We have seen the fair 
banner of holiness trailed in the dust, and we have 
seen truth struggling on the scaffold and lying in 
pools of blood, but by the grace of God we shall con- 
tend for holiness, for truth, for Chiliasm, even though 
their avowed advocates may on minor points fail to 
see exactly alike. Shall we reject the Gospels be- 
cause Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are said to dis- 
agree ? 

Many post-millennial writers boldly assert that 
pre-millenarians differ in their views, and this asser- 
tion is not always free from an admixture of sarcasm 
and ridicule. It seems in order now to show that (1) 
pre-millenarians agree on essential points ; and that 
(2) post-millennial writers are not always united. 



DISAGEEEMENT 



193 



290. Pre-millennial writers agree on these points : 
(1) a literal resurrection of the bodies of saints before the 
Millennium ; (2) the return of Christ before the Millen- 
nium ; (3) the devil excluded and Christ and His glorified 
saints ruling the world during this period ; (4) the wicked 
resurrected at the close of the Millennium. 

291. Post-millennial writers disagree on some vital 
points. 

(a) J. Agar Beet dissents from J. Stuart Russell be- 
cause the latter contends that Christ returned in a. d. 70. 1 

(b) Merrill 2 and Steele 3 make the " first resurrection " 
a literal rising of bodies, while Wilson 4 justly complains 
that this is " what pre-millenarians hold." 

(c) Post writers have located the second advent (1) on 
the day of Pentecost ; (2) at the destruction of Jerusalem 
in a. d. 70 ; (3) at the rise of Constantine in the fourth 
century ; (4) of Charlemagne in 800 a. d. ; 5 with the Ref- 
ormation and the rise of Protestantism ; and with various 
later epochs. (See 353.) 

(d) Some believe the Millennium is already past ; 6 
some think we are now enjoying this happy era ; others be- 
lieve it is very near ; and yet some think Christ will not re- 
turn personally for fifty thousand years. 7 

(e) Some believe that during the Millennium there will 
not be a single unsanctified soul, 8 while others are winking 
at wickedness and basking in the Millennium now. 

(f) Vitringa, Merrill and Steele make the "second 
resurrection " (Rev. xx.) a literal rising of bodies, while 
Whitby, Faber and Brown make it a spiritual resurrec- 
tion. 9 

1 Beet, « Last Things," N. Y., 1898, pp. 255-259 ; Russell, 
M Parousia," p. 82. 

2 " Sec. Com.," pp. 162, 163. 3 " Ant. Rev.," pp. 238, 239. 
4 " Sign of Thy Coming," pp. 148, 149. 

6 Hengstenburg, in Pope's " Theology," III, 400. 

6 Genebrard, Grotius and Hammond (Elliott, IV, 132). 

7 Dr. E. L. Eaton, Pittsburgh, Oct. 29, 1903. 

8 Brown, " Sec. Adv.," p. 411 j Richard Abbey, " Diuternity," p. 
147. 

9 Shown by Elliott, IV, 134. 



194 THE LOED'S RETURN SEEN IN HISTOEY 



(g) Vitringa and Whitby make the New Jerusalem of 
Rev. xxi. the literal and millennial earthly Church, while 
Faber and Brown make it the future and eternal state after 
the final judgment. 1 

Surely the charge that pre-millenarians differ should be 
withdrawn until post-millennial writers can get together. 

We are ready now to leave the world of learning. 
We have been favourably impressed with the repre- 
sentatives whom we have seen. After a little rest we 
shall visit the missionary world. 



XXX. THE MISSIONARY WORLD 

"Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men " 
(2 Coe. v. 11). 

292. Zeal. In nothing have pre-millenarians been 
more distinguished than in their aggressive and re- 
lentless missionary activity, their burning zeal for the 
salvation of souls wherever man is found. Several 
reasons may be assigned : 

1. Christ commands us to seek the lost, and to 
carry the Gospel everywhere. 

2. Millions are dying without the knowledge of 
God. 

3. The faithful preaching of the Gospel every- 
where will hasten the coming of the Lord. 

293. A False Charge. By some strange process 
of reasoning the charge has actually been made that 
pre-millennialism is inimical to missionary enter- 
prise. This charge cannot be sustained by facts, and 
we shall summon a post-millennial writer to show its 
injustice. 

1 Shown by Elliott, IV, 135. 



THE MISSIONAEY WOELD 195 



Dr. R. M. Patterson, a post-millennial writer, says in 
the Princeton Review : x "One charge which is made 
against it is unjust — that it must cut the nerve of preaching 
and missionary effort. . . . For ourselves we confess 
that among our personal friends who hold this error are the 
most spiritually minded of Christians, and the most ear- 
nest and successful of Christian pastors and preachers." 
(See 64, 308.) 

Observations which we are about to make in the 
missionary world will reveal the fact that evangelistic 
enterprise in many countries and islands of the sea 
was commenced by heralds of the Gospel of Christ 
who were inspired by faith in the doctrine of the 
imminent and pre-millennial return of the Lord. 

Europe 

2940 On the Continent of Europe we find Joseph 
Wolfe 2 who prayed for the lost and preached the 
speedy coming of Christ in Jewish and Mohammedan 
lands in Asia and Africa and indeed in almost every 
country on the face of the globe ; and here, in 
Switzerland, is Louis Gaussen 3 who, in union with 
Merle D'Aubigne, formed the " Evangelical Society " 
for the wide distribution of Bibles and tracts. 

295. Karl Gutzlaff, 4 of Germany, opened China in 
1831, trusting God for temporal support. He wrote 
1 'China Opened, " and in that vast domain he gave 
his life for souls, breathing a prayer towards heaven 

1 March, 1879, p. 434. 

2 Wolfe, Ger. (1775-1862) ; pre (Blackstone, p. 118; T, p. 343). 

3 Gaussen (1790-1863) ; M, III, 754; pre (Abbott, p. 618; T, p. 
342). 

4 Gutzlaff (1 802- 1 85 1) ; "In zeal untiring, in labour indefatigable. 
. . . He never lost an opportunity of disseminating Christianity 
among the Chinese " (M, III, 1038) ; pre (Blackstone, p. 118). 



196 THE LOKD'S EETUEN SEEN IN HISTOEY 



for the salvation of teeming millions in the old 
Celestial Empire. 

296. J. B. Bettleheim, 1 from the soil of Hungary, 
opens the door of Japan ; and there, in 1850, Com- 
modore Perry finds him preaching Christ to the 
Japanese. Bettleheim translated the Gospels into the 
Japanese and Chinese languages. Gutzlaff and Bet- 
tleheim were pre-milleuarians. 

297. Professor Delitzsch, 2 of Leipsic, another dis- 
tinguished pre-millenarian, established missionary in- 
stitutes in ten German universities and into those or- 
ganizations he infused a burning fervour for the salva- 
tion of mankind. Other worthies we must pass. 
We have marked the missionary spirit and labours of 
the Waldenses (95), of Francis Assisi (126), and of 
many others in former days. 

British Isles 

298. On the British Isles we see many a shining 
light. Eeginald Heber, 3 author of the hymn, i ' Green- 
land' s Icy Mountains, " was a pre-millenarian. This 
immortal hymn has kindled the fire of many a mis- 
sionary meeting and resounded from the walls and 
arches of many a great convention. Heber went to 
India as a missionary bishop, and there he died on 
" India's coral strand." 

299. Robert McCheyne, 4 the flaming Scotch 

1 Bettleheim (1811-1869); M, sup., I, 476; pre (Bkckstone, p. 
118). 

2 Delitzsch (1813-1890) ; pre (« Cham. Ency.," VII, 200; « Biblio. 
Sacra," XLV, 235). 

3 Heber, Eng. (1783-1826) ; pre (T, p. 286; Blackstone, p. 1 18). 

4 McCheyne (1813-1843) ; M, V, 935 ; pre (Brown, pp. 325, 326 ; 
T, p. 340). 



THE MISSIONAEY WOELD 197 



evangelist, exulted in this hope. He was always in 
motion, infusing inspiration into others ; " always 
preaching by his words and holy life," he " lived 
only for the salvation of men." 1 This faith inspired 
Edward Bickersteth 2 who was missionary secretary 
of the Church of England for fifteen years, and who 
certainly needs no introduction to the world. 

300. Alexander Duff, 3 of Scotland, opened the 
door of India. Blackburn, the Church historian, 
calls Duff " the spirit of missions.' 7 4 

Returning home from India, Duff made a powerful 
address which fired Scotland with missionary zeal, and 
vast multitudes in the United States and Canada were 
thrilled by his appeals. In India he established a college 
and various missionary schools which enrolled over 3,000 
students. He was a pre-millenarian. 

301. George Muller (5, 161), 5 whom we have 
quoted, was a man of profound Christian piety who 
travelled extensively, his missionary operations 
reaching many lands. He was constant in prayer 
and mighty in faith. 

A poor Prussian boy, George Muller, lodged in the 
Orphan House of Francke (242) and became a student 
at Halle. Going to England, he becomes a Plymouth 
Brother (161); establishes orphanages and provides for 
more than 10,000 fatherless children ; founds missionary 
schools; circulates 115,000,000 Bibles, books and tracts. 
He was a Chiliast. 

302. J. Hudson Taylor, of England, aud "all 

1 M, V, 935, quoting Prof. Buttz, of Drew Seminary, 
s Bick. (1786-1850) ; pre (S-H, VII, 378 ; T, p. 339). 
s Duff (1 806- 1 87 8); pre (Blackstone, p. 118). 

4 « Ch. Hist.," p. 640. 

5 Muller (1805-1898) ; pre (« Biblio. Sacra," XLV, 271). 



198 THE LOED'S EETUEN SEEN IN HISTOEY 



his missionaries," are pre-millenarians. 1 Taylor 
founded the China Island Mission and sent forth 
hundreds of missionaries who have been maintained 
by prayer and faith. Clara Leffingwell, a personal 
friend of the writer, went to China under the Inland 
Mission, and in that land her body lies. 
I 303. H. Grattan Guinness 3 is the founder of a 
large Missionary Training Institute in London which 
in 1888 had sent forth over five hundred missionaries. 
This Institute is " exclusively pre-millennial. " 3 

304. Robert Arthington, the wealthy English 
pre-niillenarian, * who died recently, gave more 
money during his life for the support of foreign mis- 
sions than any man that has ever lived, and in his 
will he leaves a valuable legacy. 

We clip the following from Curre?it Events : 
" An Englishman named Robert Arthington lately left 
$4,500,000 for the spread of the Christian Gospel in other 
lands. This is the largest bequest ever made for foreign 
missions." 5 

305. John G. Paton, 6 of Scotland, who carried to 
the cannibals of the New Hebrides the glad tidings of 
a Saviour's love, was inspired by the early apostolic 
faith in the pre-millennial return of the Lord. 

Paton, who carried the Gospel to Australia and her 
colonies, has been greeted with tears of joy in British, 
Canadian and American conventions as the multitudes 

1 Taylor (1832-1905) ; "Univ. Cy.," XI, 314; pre (" Biblio. 
Sacra," XLV, 271). 

2 Guin. (1835-1910) ; (« Bib. Sacra," XLV, 271 ; S-H, VII, 378). 
8 Dr. Kellogg, " Biblio. Sacra," XLV, 271. 

4 Arthington, Leeds, Eng.; pre (Ibid.). 

5 Feb. 14, 1913, Vol. XII, number 21. 

6 Paton (1824-1907) ; pre (Pickett, " Hope," p. 189). 



THE MISSIONAEY WOKLD 199 



arose to behold his diminutive form and noble head 
adorned with locks as white as snow. 

306. Others. We should be glad to mention 
many more on the British Isles, such as James Mc- 
Gregor Bertram, the Baptist missionary from Scot- 
land who bore the Gospel message to lonely St. 
Helena where the great Napoleon died, and such other 
Gospel messengers as Mansfield, Gonsalves, Kelly and 
Hewitson ; 1 but we cannot take up the enumeration. 2 

America 

307. In America we see pre-millennialism as a 
mighty incentive in the missionary sphere. This was 
the faith of Adoniram Judson, 3 Baptist missionary 
from Massachusetts, who went to Burmah with the 
first missionary band ever sent from the United States 
and established what has become one of the most suc- 
cessful missionary enterprises of modern times. The 
Christian Alliance (166), solidly pre-millennial, con- 
tinues in the van of the missionary movement, 
sending forth hundreds upon hundreds to every land 
and nation. Arthur T. Pierson, who edited the 
Missionary Review of the World, and wrote volume 
after volume of inspiring missionary literature, was a 
prominent advocate of the doctrine of the pre-millen- 
nial return of Christ. John Willis Baer, president 
of Occidental College in Los Angeles, California ; 
Bobert E. Speer, secretary of the Presbyterian Board 
of Foreign Missions ; with many others yet in the 
prime of life who have distinguished themselves as 
leaders in the greatest missionary movements of 

1 Pre (Blackstone, p. 118). 2 See list by T, pp. 339-347. 

8 Judson (1788-1850) ; pre (Letter from M. J. E., Oct. 31, 1901). 



200 THE LOBD'S EETUBN SEEN IN HISTOBY 



America and the world in modern times, are firm in 
the faith that Christ will return before we see the 
Millennial glory of the Latter Day. 1 

308. Inspiration. This blessed hope is seen to be 
the soul and spirit of the missionary world. " In- 
stead of pre-millennialism discouraging missionary 
activity, it would be impossible to find a class of 
Christians who, as a whole, are more active and en- 
thusiastic in evangelistic work, than those who are 
looking for the personal advent of the Lord as pre- 
millennial." 3 

On November 1, 1878, Trinity Church, New York City, 
was packed with people. A Prophetic Conference was 
closing its session. An immense audience listened to the 
closing deliberations. The doctrine of the pre- millennial 
return of Christ was proclaimed as Scriptural. By a rising 
and unanimous vote the great audience with tremendous 
enthusiasm passed this resolution: " The doctrine of our 
Lord's pre-millennial advent is one of the mightiest in- 
centives to earnestness in preaching the Gospel to every 
creature till He comes." 3 (See 64, 189, 191, 292.) 

We have seen in history the hope of the coming of 
the Lord. We have seen its effect upon heart and 
life. May it be our privilege soon to see the Saviour 
face to face. 

1 Blackstone, p. 248. 

2 Dr. Kellogg, " Biblio. Sacra," XLV, 269, 270. 

3 Ibid. This conference body was composed of 115 men, occupy- 
ing comparatively little space in the large auditorium. 



PART II 

The Lord's Return Seen in the 
Scriptures 



PART II 



THE LORD'S RETURN SEEN IN THE 
SCRIPTURES 



SECTION VI.— INTBODUCTION TO THE 
SCBIPTUKES 

XXXL— THE HOLY BIBLE AND ITS 
INTERPRETATION 

" A more sure word of prophecy " (2 Peter i. 19). 

309. The Book. We have traversed the land of 
history down the centuries of time. We have seen 
men. We have learned their opinions. We cherish 
pleasant memories of holy people and happy scenes. 
We are indebted to learned men for valued infor- 
mation. 

Now we open the Book. There is but one book — 
the Bible. What does the Bible teach ? What have 
holy men written who were moved by the Holy 
Ghost? What does God say? We open the Bible 
with reverence. May the Holy Spirit open our 
understanding that we may understand the Scrip- 
tures. Heavenly Father, to Thee we look for wis- 
dom. Help us to rightly divide the word of Truth. 
We acknowledge Thee. Wilt Thou direct our paths. 
Keep our hearts tender, our minds clear, our faith 
strong. 

203 



204 THE KETUKN SEEN IN SCKIPTUKE 



In introducing the doctrine of the pre-millennial 
return of the Lord as seen in history numerous pas- 
sages of Scripture were quoted showing that the con- 
templation of His return is an incentive to every 
Christian virtue and that some mention of this 
precious theme appears on every page of the New 
Testament (2). 

A CONSIDERATION OF OBJECTIONS TO LITERAL 
INTERPRETATION 

310. "Carnal" and "Materialistic." God in- 
spired holy men to write truth. They wrote facts, 
not fables. Pre-millenarians hold to a literal inter- 
pretation of the sacred Scriptures, believing that the 
teachings of Christ and the Apostles are to be under- 
stood in a literal sense except in certain places where 
some other meaning is designated. Post-millennial 
writers spiritualize a large portion of the prophetic 
Scriptures, understanding the language in a figura- 
tive sense. Daniel Steele (post) regards many of the 
teachings of pre-millennialism as ' i grossly material- 
istic.' 7 1 The Millennium which it portrays is styled 
by some writers as "carnal," but they fail to define 
this term. It has more than one shade of meaning. 

(a) The nominal twentieth century Church is now so 
"grossly materialistic " that we are led to long for some- 
thing blessedly spiritual during the Millennium (20b). 
We look not for a Mohammedan paradise with a harem of 
iniquity. This is supplied too well in the present dispensa- 
tion by the devotees of sensuality. We look for a Millen- 
nium of holiness. 

Is the story of Eden an allegory ? Did Enoch and 

1<{ Ant. Rev.," pp. 190, 191. 



INTERPEETATION 



205 



Elijah go to heaven in a "carnal" state? Is our risen 
Lord in a " carnal" state? Will the resurrection of our 
bodies be a carnal resurrection ? The bodies of the glori- 
fied saints during the Millennium will not be "carnal" 
forms ; they will be glorious. People then living, not 
having died, and not in the glorified state, will be as they 
are now relative to literal, mortal bodies ; but they will en- 
joy greater immunities. (See angels, 400b.) 

(b) And dare we attribute carnality to a holy God ? 
Was God "carnal" in sending the flood, in burning the 
Sodomites, in destroying the first-born in Egypt, in slaying 
185,000 Assyrians in one night? But those were Old 
Testament times. Yes, but those were the acts also of an 
omniscient and holy God. However, was Christ " carnal ' ' 
in scourging the money changers in the temple? After 
the day of Pentecost was that a "carnal " act of God by 
which Ananias and Sapphira were, slain? And yet nu- 
merous post- millennial writers who raise the cry of "car- 
nal " seem to have laid this argument aside in seeing the 
second coming of Christ in a. d. 70 when wicked Titus 
and his unregenerate legions starved and killed nearly a 
million human beings in the city of Jerusalem ! 

(c) The coming millennial kingdom will displace the 
kingdoms of this present evil age (361). " It must, there- 
fore, be a literal kingdom as truly as those empires which 
it displaces and supersedes." 1 

(d) Pickett quotes a post- millennial writer who, op- 
posing pre-millennialism, says "the destructive work began 
by adhering to a literal interpretation of the Scriptures." 2 
But history proves Chiliasm to have been constructive ; 
Romanism, "destructive." However, to concede that a 
literal interpretation of the Scriptures establishes pre-mil- 
lennialism is complimentary. 

(e) Scriptures which are metaphorical in meaning are 
so presented. In the Lord's Supper Christ administered 
literal wine, and His blood had not been shed. In John 
vii. 38 the "rivers of living water " are immediately ex- 

1 Seiss, " Voices from Babylon," p. 203. 

2 " Renewed Earth," p. 85. 



206 THE EETUEN SEEN IN SCEIPTUEE 



plained in the verse following. Metaphors are always 
obvious as such. 

311. The Throne of David. It has been said that 
according to literal interpretation Christ will actually 
sit upon the throne of David, which is now impossi- 
ble. But whatever the Scriptures plainly declare, is 
possible with God. 

In Acts ii. 30 we read of God's oath to the patriarch 
David, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, 
He would raise up Christ to sit on his (David's) throne. 
Christ was literally raised from the dead. He sits now on 
His Father's throne (Rev. iii. 21). At least fourteen times 
in Matthew's Gospel He is called "the son of David." 
He was a direct descendant. Kings now sit on the thrones 
of ancestral kings who reigned hundreds of years ago, and 
they bear the same regal name. In no sense is Christ now 
on David's throne. This passage is one of the strongest 
proofs that Christ will reign on the earth in person during 
the Millennium. 

312. The Sacrificial System. A plausible objec- 
tion to the doctrine of a Millennium subsequent to 
the return of Christ is that it seems to imply a res- 
toration of the ancient sacrificial system. It is urged 
that the Levitical code is forever abrogated. This 
objection merits consideration. 

(a) Now, at the communion table, we "show the 
Lord's death till He come " (1 Cor. xi. 26). This 
sacrament looks back to His death and forward to His re- 
turn. A prophetic element foreshown is to be " fulfilled 
in the kingdom of God " (Luke xxii. 16). This will be ex- 
perienced and understood when fulfilled. The ancient 
Passover, the commemorative Supper, will have some 
further exalted and befitting significance which will be 
revealed in the morning of the millennial Day. 

(b) The New Covenant in Christ's blood will not be 
abrogated at His return. What we have, what we hope 



INTEEPEETATION 207 



and all we shall realize during the glory of the latter Day, 
will be through the blood of the everlasting covenant. 
Nineteen times in the Book of Revelation Christ appears 
to John as a " slain Lamb" exalted in glory and majesty. 
Throughout the millennial era we shall witness an ap- 
propriate monument of the atonement. 

(c) Hyssop branch and bleeding beast typified the 
Lamb of God. The Lord's Supper is the present me- 
morial. During the Millennium earth's teeming millions 
in the flesh will observe some proper commemoration of 
the atonement. Glorified saints and holy angels will re- 
joice to hear redemption's song. It is the prerogative of a 
king to pardon. The Blood will never lose its power. 
Those who are born during the Millennium will be saved 
through the merits of the blood that flowed from Calvary, 
the scene of the Saviour's suffering in the day of His 
humiliation. 

313. Warnings Against Allegorizing. The Scrip- 
tures are of no definite value unless they mean what 
they declare. To allegorize them " tends towards 
dissolving all spiritual facts into a vast sea of 
symbolism, and this on a principle of interpretation 
by which almost any words in the Scripture can be 
turned to almost any meaning nl (132). Knapp re- 
minds us that "whenever Christ and His Apostles 
spoke in figurative language, they always showed, by 
explanations which they gave, that they did not 
intend to be understood literally." 2 Modern specu- 
lative philosophy holds to the hypothesis that the 
miracles related in the Scriptures are myths recorded 
to illustrate spiritual truths. But " the controversy 
whether Christianity is true or not really turns upon 
miracle. ' 1 3 Figurative interpretation shatters the 



1 « UEP," XVIII, art. « Millen." 

2 " Theology," section 39. 



3 M, VI, 304. 



20S THE RETURN SEEN IX SCEIPTUEE 



foundation of Christianity. It grants an indulgence 
which permits the cresting of Scripture to satisfy 
private opinion and party prejudice. 

314. Judah and Jerusalem. Some take the Old 
Testament prophecies and make Jerusalem mean the 
Church and Gentile Christianity whenever blessings 
are promised, and then declare that when woes are 
pronounced upon Jerusalem the prophet alludes 
to the ancient city and the Jewish race. On this point 
we shall note the observations of a recent writer : 

" We contend that as the woes denounced upon Judah 
and Jerusalem have been literally fulfilled it is but rea- 
sonable to suppose that the blessings pronounced upon 
Judah and Jerusalem will have a literal fulfillment also, 
and that those who say that these words 1 Judah and Jeru- 
salem ' mean the literal city and country when a curse is 
connected with them, and a spiritual organization when a 
blessing is conjoined with them, should give us the Scrip- 
tural authority for their interpretation. This it is impos- 
sible for them to do. 

"As a matter of fact the words * Judah, Judea, Israel 
and Jerusalem ' occur nearly 500 times in the New Testa- 
ment, and they are always used literally except in a very 
few cases, and in these instances where they are so used a 
qualifying word is attached to denote that the literal place 
is not meant, as for instance, 1 the New Jerusalem,' to show 
that the literal city is not intended, or 'the heavenly 
Jerusalem,' the 'Jerusalem which is above,' to show that 
the earthly city is not referred to ; and the very fact of 
this being done proves that when such distinctive terms 
are not applied the words are to be understood literally, 
and that when Isaiah said he saw a vision respecting 
' Judah and Jerusalem,' or spoke of Mount Zion and the 
land of Judah, etc., he referred to the actual localities, 
and was not speaking in the 1 spiritual ' way of the Gentile 
Church." 1 

1 W, A. Parlane, " El. Dispensa'l Truth," X. Y.. 1905, pp. 60, 61. 



INTEEPEETATION 



209 



The breaking down of Turkish power and the return of 
the Jews to Palestine is connected by prophecy with the 
return of the Lord. 1 

315. Prophecies Respecting the Messiah. Wake- 
field observes that " divines have selected more than 
one hundred predictions, generally of very clear 
and explicit meaning, and each referring to some 
different circumstance connected with the appearing, 
the person, or the history of Christ. " 2 Every proph- 
ecjjDointing to the first advent of Christ was literally 
fulfilled to the letter in every detail. 3 

(a) Gilpen, in his "Exposition of the New Testa- 
ment," remarks: "No prophecies in the Revelation can 
be clouded with more obscurity, than that a child should 
be born of a pure virgin — that a mortal should not see 
corruption — that a person despised and numbered among 
malefactors should be established forever on the throne 
of David." * But this is literally true of Christ. He 
is coming to sit on the Davidic throne during the Mil- 
lennium, and throughout eternity on the new earth His 
personal presence will be glorious and His dominion ever- 
lasting. This globe, made for man, will not be lost. 

(b) The Revelation is a book of prophecy awaiting 
fulfillment, not a pedantic display of meaningless poetry. 
The prophecies in the New Testament will be fulfilled in a 
very literal manner. Thirty-one times in the Gospel of 
Matthew the inspired writer calls special attention to the 
fact that the events transpiring in the life of Christ are 
literal fulfillments of prophecy, and in nearly every instance 
the prophecy is quoted. Even so will it be in the future ; 
men will believe when they see. 

(c) Zacharias, believing not the words of Gabriel 

1 See Trotter's " Plain Papers." 2 " Theology," p. 96. 

3 See Home's copious table of prophecy, " Introduction to the 
Critical Study and Knowledge of the Holy Scriptures," appendix to 
volume I. 

4 Work cited, II, 428. 



210 THE EETUEN SEEN IN SCEIPTUEE 



announcing the birth of John the Baptist, was struck 
dumb until the child was born (Luke i. 11-23, 62-64). 
On the way to Damascus Jesus said to His disciples : " O 
fools, and slow of heart to believe all the prophets have 
spoken " (Luke xxiv. 25). To the eleven the Saviour said : 
" These are the words which I spoke unto you, while I was 
yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were 
written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in 
the Psalms, concerning Me ' ' (Luke xxiv. 44). All those 
things relating to the second advent will be literally ful- 
filled. 

(d) On the fourteenth chapter of Zechariah, where we 
read of the Lord's return to the Mount of Olives (verse 4), 
Steele insists that the whole chapter is " entirely literal or 
entirely symbolical" in meaning. 1 Are verses ten and 
eleven symbolical in meaning, without mention of others ? 
If not, then, according to Steele, the whole chapter is 
literal in meaning (405). 

316. Dangers of Allegorizing. Origen, an in- 
terpreter of very inferior ability (70, 132), and a 
Universalist, " was mnch given to fanciful interpre- 
tations of the Scriptures." 2 He was a determined 
opponent of Chiliasm. He led the assault against 
this doctrine in the early centuries. 

(a) Mosheim says Origen' s allegorical teaching " was 
followed by a prodigious number of interpreters in that 
and the succeeding ages, and overflowed the Church." 3 
Adam Clarke declares that Origen's scheme of interpreta- 
tion is "in many respects the most futile, absurd and 
dangerous that can possibly be conceived," and that by it 
"the sacred writings may be obliged to say anything, 
everything, or nothing, according to the fancy, peculiar 
creed, or caprice of the interpreter." 4 Milner observes 
that "a thick mist for ages pervaded the Christian world, 

1 " Ant. Rev.," p. 205. 

2 Merrill, « N. T. Idea of Hell," p. 33 ; « Univ. Cycle," IX, 25. 

3 Quoted by Seiss, " Last Times," p. 249. 4 Ibid. 



INTEEPEETATION 



211 



supported by Origen's allegorical manner of interpreta- 
tion." 1 

(b) Life of Moses. Here is a specimen of Origen's 
allegorizing: "The king of Egypt is the devil; the male 
and female children of the Hebrews are the rational and 
animal faculties of the soul ; the midwives are the Old and 
New Testaments. Pharaoh's daughter is the Church ; 
Moses is the law ; the ark and the flags in which he was 
found are the absurd and carnal glosses of the Jews." 2 
He regards the whole life of Moses as merely allegorical. 

(c) Who are the " dreamers " ? Who are the "vision- 
aries " ? The pre-millenarians who hold to literal mean- 
ing or the higher critics who explain the Bible as allegory, 
as mythology, as fiction ? 

317. The Path to Infidelity. For a moment let 
us follow the path which Origen trod and see the 
logical result of departure from literal interpretation. 

(a) The late Professor C. W. Pearson, of North West- 
ern University, asserts that "the Biblical stories of Christ's 
bringing the dead to life and of His walking on the water 
are poetic fancies and untrue." 3 Haldeman speaks of a 
theological professor who scouts the idea that God wrote 
the commandments on tables of stone, because He " never 
was a stone-mason ! " 4 Belshazzar, however, had no 
doubt that his doom was written on the wall by Almighty 
God, and this king had no thought of insinuating that 
Jehovah never was a fresco painter. Attempts thus to 
ridicule a literal understanding of the sacred narratives 
border closely upon blasphemy. 

(b) Ingersoll retires. Some years since, the editor of 
the Minneapolis Times, in paying tribute to R. G. Inger- 
soll, the noted infidel, wrote: "His attacks upon the 
Bible are identical with the results of the Higher Criticism, 
which are gradually being adopted by the churches them- 
selves. ... As far as belief is concerned, Robert 

1 Quoted by Seiss, " Last Times," p. 249. 2 Ibid. 

3 Sims, " Shadows," p. 112. 

4 " Signs of the Times," 1910, p. 14. 



212 THE EETUEN SEEN IN SCBIPTUEE 



Ingersoll could occupy the chair of ethics in any non- 
sectarian college, or the pulpit in any Unitarian church. 
In addressing a ministerial meeting L. W. Munhall re- 
marked that " when Ingersoll was asked by a friend why 
he no longer gave his lecture against the Bible, he replied, 
* The professors and preachers are doing that work much 
better than I possibly can, and their influence is much 
greater than mine.' " 1 

(c) A preacher's verdict. A pastor of one of the 
largest and most influential churches in New York City, 
addressing a ministerial meeting composed of more than 
four hundred preachers, expressed the following sentiments 
which were endorsed by the majority of his auditors : 
" The authorship of the greater part of the Old Testa- 
ment is unknown. The New Testament contains many 
contradictions. The truth of such Bible stories as Jonah 
and the whale, the fate of Lot's wife, Elijah's ascension, 
the age of Methuselah, Daniel in the lion's den, and God 
speaking to Moses from the burning bush, is ques- 
tioned." 2 (See Tyndale, 132.) 

With such utterances from the ministry need it be 
thought strange that many are rejecting the doctrine 
of the future punishment of the wicked and believing 
that all mankind is destined eventually to bask in 
the bowers of Paradise % The methods of interpreta- 
tion above illustrated are perilous to mankind and 
grievous to Almighty God. 3 

318. Safety in Literal Interpretation. There is 
safety in the faith of that childlike simplicity which 
takes the Scriptures to mean what they say. " Christ 
knew what He wished to say, and how to say what 

1 Sims, " Bridegroom," p. 71. 

2 Ibid., p. 69, with names and full details. 

3 Good illustrations and inferential sermons teaching truth clearly 
established by a literal interpretation of the Scriptures are generally 
appreciated. But doctrines which are not supported by literal in- 
terpretation rest upon a very unsafe foundation. 



INTEKPEETATION 



213 



He meant," remarks Seiss, " and I find myself bound 
to understand Him to mean just what He says." 1 

319. Rules of Interpretation. The opinions of 
eminent authorities on rules of interpretation are 
warnings against departure from the literal meaning 
of the language employed. 

(a) " Theologians are right," says Ernesti, " when they 
affirm the literal sense to be the only true one; " and with 
Hooker we should " hold it for a most infallible rule in 
expositions of sacred Scripture, that when a literal con- 
struction will stand, the farthest from the letter is com- 
monly the worst." 2 Moses Stuart, Vitringa, and others 
make similar statements. 

(b) Sidney Collett, in his excellent book, "All About 
the Bible," gives remarkable proof showing that they are 
correct who interpret the Scriptures literally. In former 
times many Scriptures pertaining to scientific and astro- 
nomical subjects were considered absurd or inexplicable, 
but now we see archeology, science and astronomy coming 
forward as tardy witnesses and modestly testifying that 
everything in the Bible relative to these subjects is demon- 
strated to have been literally correct and true to the letter 
of the sacred narrative. 

320. Analogy. By analogy and parallels plainly 
visible some writers have taken Old Testament 
prophecies pointing to the second advent and have 
applied them to various phases of Christian experi- 
ence during this dispensation, denying that they have 
any other significance. Let us illustrate. 

(a) Christ has come now to " stand at the door and 
knock " (Rev. iii. 20) ; He comes when a soul is regener- 
ated (Matt. i. 21); He comes when "two or three are 
gathered together" in His name, and is found "in the 

1 v Last Times," p. 26. 

2 Quoted by Seiss, " Last Times," p. 116. 



214 THE BETUBN SEEN IN SOEIPTUEE 



midst of them " (Matt, xviii. 20); here and now we have 
fellowship with Jesus Christ (1 John i. 3) ; He comes in 
the hour of death and drives the shadows away. These 
are divine manifestations understood and enjoyed by all 
of God's children. The Holy Spirit, the Comforter, is 
God with us and in us. But Jesus of Nazareth will truly 
come again as personally as He ascended from the Mount 
of Olives. 

Let us, for a moment, erase history back to the date of 
Isaiah's prophecy. Taking our position with Isaiah and 
other prophets we look forward to the first advent. That 
Christ shall be born of a virgin may be regarded by some 
as a " carnal " advent, and that the features of His life as 
sketched by Isaiah are not to be accepted in a " material- 
istic " sense is a very natural conclusion when we consider 
that the Messianic portrait is made by the pen of a poet- 
prophet. Read the vivid fifty-third chapter of Isaiah. 

(b) Now for the observation. We see the birth of 
Christ in those who are "born of the Spirit" (John iii. 
5, 6), having "Christ formed" in them (Gal. iv. 19) 
their "hope of glory" (Col. i. 27). We see the suffer- 
ings of Christ in the martyrdom of saints who are as " the 
apple of His eye " (Zech. ii. 8), and we see His humilia- 
tion in divine condescension to pardon vile humanity. 
We see His death in apostasy and abandonment of truth 
as depicted in the story of the judgment hall and the cross. 
We behold His resurrection in the rising of souls into 
"newness of life" (Rom. vi. 4; Col. iii. 1), and their 
being "not of the world" (John xv. 19). We witness 
His ascension in the triumphant departure of faithful 
saints. Are not these things seen in Christian experience? 

Remaining by the side of the old prophet, is not this 
interpretation of the birth, life, sufferings, death, resurrec- 
tion and ascension of Christ more consonant with the 
genius of New Testament Christianity than the idea of a 
literal corporeal birth of a divine Messiah as the offspring 
of a poor and unknown virgin in a Bethlehem stable 
among donkeys and goats ! (316). But this is the way 
the Saviour came, and may our tongue be palsied before 
we call it a " carnal " advent. 



INTEEPEETATION 



215 



In view of these observations what insuperable 
difficulties lie in the way of our believing the Scrip- 
tures which teach that Christ will return in the clouds 
of heaven with power and great glory to reign on 
the earth during the triumph of the Latter Day? 
" Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have 
believed " (John xx. 29). 

321. Looking Forward to the Lord's Return. 
Two Jewish rabbis stand viewing the ruins of Zion. 
One weeps ; the other rejoices. 

" Why do you weep ? " was asked. 

"I weep," was the reply, ' 'because of the literal 
fulfillment of prophecy. " 

"Well, I rejoice," was the response, u because of 
the literal fulfillment of prophecy.' ' 

One saw the present condition, and thought of the 
centuries gone. The other looked ahead and saw the 
exiles coming home. It is touching indeed to see the 
Jews of Jerusalem wailing at the ancient wall. They 
rejected their Messiah, and He rejected them. But 
with great mercy Jesus will again remember them. 
When we follow the footprints of Jesus the Jew from 
Bethlehem to Calvary we pause to weep long before 
we see the thorns upon His brow ; we weep because 
the Scriptures have been so literally fulfilled. But 
when we read the Scriptures which point to His re- 
turn, assured that they will be equally literally ful- 
filled, onr spirits leap with joy as we behold the part- 
ing clouds unveil the splendour of the glory of His 
coming back again. 

We look at an old log cabin in a lowly vale where 
a child of poverty first saw the light of day, and then 
we behold the uncovered heads of eminent statesmen 



216 THE EETUEX SEEN IN SCRIPTUKE 



who pay their homage to the man of the hour as he 
is inaugurated the President of a great Eepublic. 
We have seen the Babe of Bethlehem grow to man- 
hood and climb the hills of Palestine while He sought 
almost in vain for a place to lay His head. We have 
seen the sorrowful Man of Calvary stagger on the 
stony path as a suffering Messiah, but we shall see 
Him again on this very earth reigning in glory and 
majesty as literally as Solomon in the olden time. 
He will be glorious in His holiness. 

322. Prophecies Quoted. The following are a 
few of the prophecies which point to the visible re- 
turn of Christ to the earth and speak of the univer- 
sality and triumph of His reign. 

(a) " I know that my Redeemer . . . shall stand 
at the latter day upon the earth, and though after my skin 
worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God " 
(Job xix. 25, 26). 

(b) " His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount 
of Olives which is before Jerusalem on the east" (Zech. 
xiv. 4). 

(c) "The Lord shall be king over all the earth" 
(Zech. xiv. 9). (See 2.) 

(d) "The Lord alone shall be exalted in that day" 
(Isa. ii. 11). 

(e) " He shall reign and prosper, and execute judgment 
and justice on the earth" (Jer. xxiii. 5, 6, with 2 Sam. 
viii. 15 and 1 Kings x. 9). 

(f ) "All kings shall fall down before Him, all nations 
shall serve Him " (Psa. lxxii. n). 

(g) They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and 
their spears into pruning hooks ; nation shall not lift up 
sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any 
more" (Isa. ii. 4). 

(h) " There shall be no more thence an infant of days, 
nor an old man that hath not filled his days ; for the child 



INTEKPKETATION 



217 



shall die an hundred years old, but the sinner being an 
hundred years old shall be accursed. And they shall 
build houses, and inhabit them ; and they shall plant 
vineyards, and eat the fruit of them" (Isa. lxv. 20, 21). 

(i) " The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the 
leopard shall lie down with the kid ; and the calf and the 
young lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall 
lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed ; their 
young ones shall lie down together ; and the lion shall eat 
straw like the ox. And the young child shall play on the 
hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand 
on the hole of the cockatrice' den " (Isa. xi. 6-8). 

(j) " The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of 
the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea" 
(Hab. ii. 14). 

According to the Scriptures, such will be the Mil- 
lennium. We behold its glory in the personal and 
visible presence of the King. Shall we not look for- 
ward towards that day with glad anticipation ? Let 
us watch and pray that we may hasten the coming of 
Jesus. 

Seeing that the promises of God are sure, and be- 
lieving that the Prophets and Apostles mean exactly 
and literally what they write, we are ready now to 
begin our search of the sacred Scriptures with a full- 
purpose to search diligently their precious teachings 
concerning the Lord's return. u To the law and to 
the testimony 77 (Isa. viii. 20). 



SECTION VII. —THE KESUEBECTION OF THE 
KIGHTEOUS IN KELATION TO THE LORD'S 
RETURN 



XXXII.— THE FIRST RESURRECTION, MENTIONED 
IN THE TWENTIETH CHAPTER OF REVELA- 
TION, IS CORPOREAL AND PRE-MILLENNIAL 

" Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection " 
(Rev. xx. 6). 

323. Date of the Revelation. The Book of 
Revelation is a Prophecy, the sayings of which we are 
not to seal. Failing to believe all that was written in 
the prophecies of old the Jews rejected Jesns when He 
came as a humble child. Let us then take warning, 
read Revelation as an actual prophecy and be ready 
when the Bridegroom comes. 

It is of interest to know when the Book of Revela- 
tion was written. Some think it was written during 
the reign of Nero about the time of the destruction of 
Jerusalem by Titus in A. D. 70 and that much which 
it contains is a prophecy of that event. The general 
belief, however, is that it was written duriDg the 
reign of Domitian, about A. D. 96. 

(a) Against A. D. 68. There is no historical evi- 
dence in support of a. d. 70 or earlier. Irenseus (51), in 
the second century, wrote : "It [the Revelation] was seen 
no very long time ago, but almost in our own generation, 
at the close of Domitian's reign." 1 Ancient tradition is 
almost unanimous against the Neronian date. The great 
•majority of able critics hold to a. d. 95-97. 2 Domitian's 

1 « Against Heresies," V, 30, § 3. 3 M, VIII, 1064. 

218 



THE FIRST RESURRECTION 219 



reign was a. d. 81-96. This does not accommodate the 
scheme of interpretation usually followed by those who 
adopt the Neronian date. 

(b) In favour of A. D. 96. Waiving a long argu- 
ment we point out a host of strong witnesses who testify 
that the Book of Revelation was written about 96 a. d. 1 
The Revelation was written a quarter of a century after the 
destruction of Jerusalem by Titus. 

324. The Seizure and Binding of Satan. Not 
when Revelation was written, but what this inspired 
Prophecy teaches, is the subject of vast importance 
which is now to engage our attention and prayerful 
consideration. 

"And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having 
the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 
And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, 
which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand 
years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him 
up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the 
nations no more, till the thousand years should be ful- 
filled " (Rev. xx. 1-3). 

The binding of Satan is pre- millennial. On this 
point there is no question. But the popular idea 
that this binding is figurative and that the Church 
will bind the devil by a long and gradual process 
covering two thousand years or more, is not in 
harmony with the language of the text. Note the 
features. 

1 The Revelation was written A. D. 96 : Eusebius, Irenseus, Tertul- 
lian, Jerome, Primasius, Sulpicius Severus, Orosius, Victorinus ; later 
writers : Dupin, Bossuet, Tillemont, LeClerc, Turretin, Spanheim, 
Basnage, Lampe, Mill, Whitby, Lardner, Woodhouse, Tomline, 
Eichhorn, Burton, Clinton, Tregelles, Waddington, Milner, Mosheim, 
Gieseler, Elliott, M (VIII, 1064), Albert Barnes, William Smith, 
etc. (Elliott, I, 35-46, with citations; Barnes " Notes," pp. 28, 29; 
and works of above mentioned authorities). 



220 THE RETUEN SEEN TN SCRIPTUEE 



325. The Divine Assailant. An angel descends 
from heaven with a key and a chain. "It is very prob- 
able," says Matthew Henry, "'that this angel is no other 
than the Lord Jesus Christ." 1 " The particulars," accord- 
ing to Seiss, " would seem to indicate, as many able com- 
mentators have concluded, that he is the Lord Jesus Christ 
himself." 2 In Rev. i. 18 we see Christ with the " keys 
of hell and of death." He holds the key of the bottom- 
less pit. In Rev. x. 1-7 we see Christ as a (< mighty 
angel." 

In the Old Testament the Son of God appears as the 
Jehovah-angel. The Lord, as an angel, appeared to 
Hagar (Gen. xvi. 7, 9-1 1, 13; xxi. 17-19); to Abraham 
(Gen. xxii. 11, 12); to Jacob (Gen. xxxi. 11-13) ; redeems 
Joseph (Gen. xlviii. 16) ; talks to Moses at the burning bush 
(Ex. iii. 2, 6, 14); rebukes Balaam (Numb. xxii. 22-26, 
28, 31) ; speaks to Israelites at Bochim (Judges ii. 1-4) ; 
sits under an oak and instructs Gideon (Judges vi. 
12—16) ; is identified at other times. Compare Isa. lxiii. 9 
with Ex. xxxiii. 14, and Acts xxiii. 11 with xxvii. 23. See 
Hebrews i. 4, " Scofield Bible." Christ is the assailant. 3 

326. The Victim Seized. Satan, the devil, is seized. 
He is a literal, personal and well-known character. We 
are not ignorant of his devices. He is a spirit, but 
he is a literal and personal devil. The assailant being 
literal, the thing assailed is literal. Satan was a literal 
person when cast out of heaven ; a literal person when 
he talked with Christ in the wilderness (Matt. iv. 1-11) ; 
a literal person when he came for dying infidels who saw 
him and shrieked aloud with horror ; and a literal person 
when seized, bound, cast into the pit and sealed securely 
for a thousand years. 

Wicked men, dying, have sworn that they heard the 
clanking of chains. 

327. The Quick and Violent Seizure. The Assail- 
ant from heaven approaches the foe. He " seized him by 
violence — ekratese. The word denotes the employment of 



1 " Com.," VI, 1412, in loc. 8 " Apoc," III, 267. 

3 Some believe the " archangel " (1 Thess. iv. 16) assails. 



THE FIEST BESUEKECTXON 221 



strength and force." 1 " Quickly will he be bound," says 
Wesley. 2 The word ikpdriQae {ekraiese) is used in the 
Scriptures to denote quick seizure of persons. The 
Son of Man will come " as the lightning" (Matt. xxiv. 
27) and " avenge speedily " (Luke xviii. 8). The action 
will be quick, violent and decisive. 

Instantaneous were the acts of Christ in working miracles, 
casting out demons, regenerating hearts, breaking the bands 
of death, enduing His people with Pentecost power ; and 
quick will be His act when He lays hold on that old ser- 
pent, the Devil. 

328. The First Resurrection. The resurrection 
of mankind will be universal. Every human being 
will be resurrected. Delivery from the grave will be 
general. The " blessed and holy" will be resur- 
rected a thousand years before the wicked arise from 
the grave. This is the "first resurrection." It is 
pre-millennial. 

" I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment 
was given unto them : and I saw the souls of them that 
were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of 
God. and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his 
image, neither had received his mark upon their fore- 
heads ; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand 
years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the 
thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrec- 
tion. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first 
resurrection" (Rev. xx. 4-6). 

329. No less celebrated an authority than Simcox, 
who writes the volume on Eevelation in the Cam- 
bridge Bible series, makes this remark respecting 
pre-millennialism : 

" This passage (Rev. xx. 4) is quite sufficient founda- 

1 Barnes, " Notes Rev.," text. 

2 « Notes," text. (See kpariw y krateo.) 



222 THE EETUEN SEEN IK SCEIPTUEE 



tion for the doctrine even if it stood alone; and there are 
many other prophecies which, if not teaching it so plainly, 
may fairly be understood to refer to it. . . . Now no 
Christian doubts that the second or general resurrection 
described in verse 12 will be literally realized. It is 
therefore very harsh to suppose that the first will be of a 
different kind. . . . Any view except the literal one 
seems exposed to insuperable exegetical difficulties." 1 

330. Contrasted with Verses 11-13. All theolo- 
gians of respectability give a literal interpretation to 
Eev. xx. 11-13, 2 describing a resurrection and judg- 
ment ; and then the post-millennial writers with few 
exceptions assail the doctrine of a literal resurrection 
in Eev. xx. 5, 6 on the ground of the alleged symbol- 
ical character of the Apocalypse, apparently forget- 
ting that both Scriptures are not only in the same 
book of alleged " highly wrought imagery " but also 
in the very same chapter of the Book of Eevelation. 
The point by Simcox is well taken. Both Scriptures 
should be understood in a literal sense. 3 

331. The Resurrections of the Text. Both of 
these resurrections are bodily— corporeal, or else both 
are spiritual. If not, then, as Dean Alford observes, 
' ' there is an end to all significance in language and 
Scripture is wiped out as a definite testimony to any- 
thing." 4 

(a) Merrill and Steele make both resurrections cor- 
poreal. Whitby, Faber and Brown make both spiritual 
(291, notef). These writers are post-millenarians and 
accredited authorities. All pre-millenarians make both 

1 " Cam. Bible, Revelation," pp. 122, 124, 125. 

2 See 420 for text of Rev. xx. H-13. 

3 See Dr. Steele's remark on Zech. xiv. (3150!). Is he willing to 
apply this rule to Rev. xx. ? 

4 Blackstone, p. 59, quoting Alford at some length. 



THE FIEST EESUEEECTION 223 



resurrections corporeal and appreciate the support of 
Merrill and Steele. 

(b) Why do Whitby, Faber and Brown make the 
second resurrection spiritual in nature ? Verses 7-9 
locate a period of time between the mention of the second 
resurrection and that of verse 12. But note these points : 
(1) After Satan is loosed for a final demonstration his lease 
of time will likely be short. (2) " But the rest of the 
dead lived not again until the thousand years were fin- 
ished." 'Ews (Jieos) "until" does not mean immediately 
after. 'Ew<$ (heos) is also translated ////. In Matt. xvi. 28 
Christ declares that some of His disciples shall not taste of 
death " till they see the Son of man coming in His king- 
dom." This was seen six days later when Christ was 
transfigured ; but some say, at Pentecost. In either case 
did the disciples die immediately after the event ? No. 
And neither do " the rest of the dead " rise immediately 
after the thousand years are finished. Their rising is seen 
in verse 12, and is corporeal (52c). 

332. Doctrines ; Principles ; Martyr Spirit. 

Whitby, spiritualizing the " first resurrection," 
makes it a revival of the cause, principles, doctrines, 
character and spirit of the early martyrs and saints 
(117). He illustrates by citing Elias in John the 
Baptist. He is followed, with more or less elabora- 
tion, by Faber, Brown, and later post-millenarians. 
The conclusion is purely inferential. But the argu- 
ment calls for a reply. 

(a) It was persons " that were beheaded for the witness 
of Jesus " whom John saw resurrected, rather than character- 
istics, attributes or principles. The language is specific. 

(b) Resurrection presupposes death. The resurrection 
must be the same in nature as the death. In Ezekiel's 
vision of " dry bones " the death and the resurrection is 
national, relating to the Jews (Ezek. xxxvii. 1-14) ; in the 
parable of the prodigal son the boy who was "dead" 
socially and morally becomes " alive again " socially and 



224 THE RETURN SEEN Of SCRIPTURE 



morally (Luke xvi. 24) ; and the martyrs seen in the text 
were beheaded literally and physically and they are resur- 
rected physically. 

(c) Whitby's development of ecclesiastical ascendency 
precludes all possibility of the need of a martyr spirit. 

(d) Holy people are resurrected. Since they were not 
dead in a spiritual sense their resurrection cannot be viewed 
as spiritual in nature. 

(e) The first resurrection is not that of substitutes. 
Shall we place a martyr's crown on the head of a modern 
ecclesiastic who never was converted until environed by 
millennial glory and rendered immune from Satanic op- 
position ? Shall we enthrone him as a substitute? Not 
when God has power to raise from the dead those who were 
beheaded for the witness of Jesus. They who suffered 
and died as martyrs are now resurrected and enthroned 
(2 Tim. ii. 12). They are worthy (5 id). 

(f) As to John the Baptist, in some respects he is the 
antitype of Elijah. But he was not Elijah, and we know 
it. Elijah will come before " the great and dreadful day 
of the Lord " (Mai. iv. 5) and by learned exegetes is 
identified as one of the "two witnesses" described in 
Rev. xi. 3-1 2. 1 Elijah never died in any sense whatever. 
How can we resurrect him ? 

333. "A Martyr Scene." Some have regarded 
the first resurrection as exclusively that of beheaded 
martyrs. They say it is " exclusively a martyr 
scene/' Johu sees those who were " beheaded" as 
a distinct class among others who sit upon thrones. 

(a) In his first broad sweep of vision he " saw T thrones, 
and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto 
them." Looking closely and more intently, his eyes fall 

1 Tertullian ; Hilary the bishop of Poictiers ; Ephrein Syrus ; 
Joachim of Floris, the greatest exegete of the middle ages (124) ; 
Joseph A. Seiss, whose argument is certainly strong ; many recent 
expositors. See Elliott, IV, 281, 310, 312, 391 ; Seiss, " Apoc," in 
loc. On the prophecy concerning Elias see " Cambridge Bible, 
Mai. iv. 5," p. 39. 



THE FIEST EESUEEECTION 225 



upon a particular and very interesting class of persons 
among those occupying thrones. 

(b) "And I saw the souls of them that were beheaded 
for the witness of Jesus." He sees redeemed saints from 
all generations and makes special mention of a certain class 
of martyrs. He is peculiarly interested in these martyrs 
because he saw some of them in Rev. vi. 9-1 1. " They 
lived and reigned" — not the martyrs only, but "they" 
whom he saw on thrones before he mentions the martyrs 
(Rev. xx. 4). 

334. Souls. The term " souls" is used in the 
Bible in many places to designate persons living in 
their bodies. 

Joseph called his father and kindred, " threescore and 
fifteen souls" (Acts vii. 14); "two hundred threescore 
and sixteen souls " were on a ship with Paul which was 
wrecked in the Mediterranean Sea (Acts xxvii. 37); in 
the ark of Noah "eight souls were saved by water" 
(1 Pet. iii. 20); under a vial of judgment wrath "every 
living soul died in the sea" (Rev. xvi. 3). Spirits are 
never " beheaded." 

For the use of the term " soul " to designate bodies see 
Lev. xvii. 12; Josh. x. 28, 30, 32, 35, 37, 39; Prov. 
vi. 30. Woxr) {psuche) means body in Mark iii. 4; 
viii. 35 ; x. 45 ; Acts xv. 26; xxvii. 22; Rev. xii. 11. 

" Sixteen hundred souls " sank on the Titanic. 

335. The " Souls of Them." Field argues that 
the phrase "of them " means souls distinguished from 
the body. He says : 

" The word sou Is is often used to signify persons ; and if 
John had said, 1 1 saw the souls that were beheaded,' we 
should have understood him to mean persons. But he 
says, 'the souls 0/ them,' that is, of those persons who had 
been thus martyred ; he must, therefore, be understood as 
meaning, not the entire person, but the soul as distinguished 
from the body." 1 

1 « Theology," p. 269. 



226 THE EETUEN SEEN IN SCRIPTURE 



But let us observe in reply that in i Sam. xxv. 29 "the 
soul of my lord 1 ' and "the souls of thine enemies" are 
expressions designating persons living in their bodies. 
In Gen. xlvi. 15 with verses 18, 22, 26, enumerating 
Jacob's sons, we read that " all the souls of his sons and 
daughters were thirty and three." Leah bore "sixteen 
souls"; Rachel, fourteen "souls"; "all the souls that 
came with Jacob into Egypt, which came out of his loins," 
were living bodies. In Rom. ii. 9, 10 the expression 
" every soul of man " is synonymous with " every man" 
and persons living in their bodies are designated (376). 
See Clarke's use of the phrase, " not a soul of them " 
(399 d). 

" The souls of them that were beheaded " means the 
bodies of martyrs. Steele admits it ; and Merrill, with 
penetrating legal mind, so teaches (291, note b). 

We have viewed the " first resurrection" from 
many opposite points on the surrounding field of 
vision and at each observation it is seen to be cor- 
poreal and pre-millennial. May we be numbered 
among the "blessed and holy" who shall rise from 
the dead or be translated with living saints to enjoy 
the millennial splendour of the Latter Day. 



XXXIIL— THAT THE RESURRECTION OF THE 
SAINTS IS PRE-MILLENNIAL IS SEEN IN THE 
GENERAL TEACHING OF THE SCRIPTURES 

" One shall be taken, and the other left " (Matt. xxiv. 40, 41). 

336. Trend of Scripture. We have heard the 
testimony of Simcox asserting that Rev. xx. 4 "is 
quite sufficient foundation for the doctrine [pre- 
millennialism] even if it stood alone " (329). Need- 
ham declares that u pre-millennialism does not base 
its claims on any single proof-text, or series of texts, 



PEE-MILLENNIAL KESTJKEECTION 227 



but rather on the whole trend of Scripture revela- 
tion. v 1 Revelation xx. 4 stands not alone, but ap- 
pears rather as a summary of the whole tenor of 
Bible teaching. 

337. The first resurrection we have seen as an 
event quite distinct from that which takes place at 
the end of the thousand years. The literal Greek 
rendering is this resurrection that first. Jeremy Taylor 
explains "a first and second resurrection even after 
this life," 2 and St. Ohrysostom taught that "the 
just shall rise before the wicked, that they may be 
first in the resurrection, not only in dignity, but in 
time." 3 

338. Some Taken ; Some Left. When Jesus 
comes some will be taken and others will be left 
(Matt. xxiv. 37-42). 

(a) We see two in the field and two at the mill ; one 
is taken and the other is left. We see ten virgins ; five 
are taken and five are left (Matt. xxv. 1-12). Our Lord's 
elect shall be gathered from the four winds (Matt. xxiv. 
31) and all others will be left. This refers not to a. d. 70 
as some labour hard to prove. "This generation" men- 
tioned, to survive until the events named in Matt. xxiv. are 
fulfilled, is the Jewish race (363).* 

(b) After the saints are caught up to meet the Lord in 
the air they return subsequently with Christ (377). The 
events we have mentioned await fulfillment as the context 
clearly proves (Matt. xxiv. 27-42). These are glimpses 
of the first resurrection. 

1 " Pop. and Crit. Bible Ency.," II, 1 164. 2 T, p. 180. 

3 T, p. 193; Joseph Farmer, " Sober Inquiry," p. 115. 

4 Fevsd, (genea), generation, means " race, kind, family, stock, 
breed " (All lexicons ; " Scofield Bible "). Seiss, in the Appendix 
to his " Last Times," cites a long line of eminent commentators 
and exegetes as authority for this interpretation of genea in Matt, 
xxiv. 34. 



228 THE EETURX SEEN IN SCRIPTURE 



339. A Better Resurrection. The ancient wor- 
thies were tortured to death, "not accepting deliver- 
ance, that they might obtain a better resurrection " 
(Heb. xi. 35). They desired a part in the first resur- 
rection. 

Had they renounced their faith in Christ, accepted de- 
liverance, and died as sinners, their part would be in the 
second resurrection. They were holy people, having 
passed from death in a spiritual sense. As holy people, 
they rise with the "blessed and holy" whom Christ will 
raise a thousand years before the resurrection of damnation, 
of shame and of everlasting contempt (Dan. xii. 2 ; John 
v. 29). Therefore they obtain "a better resurrection." 

340. Out from Among the Dead. Paul, the 

holy Apostle, hopes to ' ' attain unto the resurrection 
of the dead" (Phil. iii. 11). He means the first 
resurrection, which is pre-millennial. If all, good 
and bad, were resurrected at the same time, it would 
be impossible to escape the resurrection. 

The Greek by Tischendorf and Alford, and the oldest 
manuscripts, is ryv k^avdaraatv rijv kk. vefcpwv. It means, 
literally, the out-resurrection from amofig the dead. Ols- 
hausen says the " phrase would be inexplicable if it were 
not derived from the idea that out of the mass of the dead 
some would rise first." 1 

341. Significant Phrases. Scripture phraseol- 
ogy clearly distinguishes the two resurrections. 

(a) We see "the first resurrection" (Rev. xx. 6); 
"the resurrection of life" (John v. 29); of "everlasting 
life" (Dan. xii. 2); "of the just" (Luke xiv. 14); "a 
better resurrection " (Heb. xi. 35); "out from among the 
dead " (340); the resurrection of the "dead in Christ" 
(1 Thess. iv. 16); of them "that are Christ's at His com- 
ing" (1 Cor. xv. 23); and similar expressions. The con- 

1 Blackstone, p. 61, citing II, 183 of Amer. ed. 



PEE-MILLEOTIAL EESUEEECTION 229 



text shows in each place that the resurrection mentioned 
is separate from that of the wicked. 

(b) Luke xx. 35 speaks of those "worthy to obtain 
(ruyxdva, enjoy, as in Acts xxiv. 2) that world (aid>v, age, dis- 
pensation}, and the resurrection which is from among the 
dead (1-379 d.vaaTd<jeiD$ r^? kit vekpwv)" who " neither marry 
nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels which are 
in heaven." Here is a literal corporeal resurrection of a 
certain " worthy " class who enjoy the millennial age or dis- 
pensation. For further research consult Blackstone's ex- 
cellent book, " Jesus is Coming," in which are cited more 
than fifty places in the New Testament showing similar dis- 
tinctions in phraseology. 1 

342. Daniel's Observation. Daniel xii. 2 speaks 
of "many" who shall be resurrected from their 
graves, and he makes a clear distinction between the 
two resurrections. 

"And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth 
shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame 
and everlasting contempt" (Dan. xii. 2). 

Tregelles, supported by early commentators, to- 
gether with the Gaonim, Professor Bush, Professor 
Whiting, and others, present the following rendering : 

" And many from among the sleepers of the dust of the 
earth shall awake ; these shall be unto everlasting life ; 
but those (the rest of the sleepers who do not awake at 
that time) shall be unto shame." 2 

343. The Jerusalem Saints. With the resurrec- 
tion of Christ " many bodies of the saints which slept 
arose, and came out of the graves after His resurrec- 
tion, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto 
many " (Matt, xxvii. 52, 53). 

(1) "Many" were resurrected; (2) "saints," not 
sinners, were resurrected. (3) This is an object lesson. 
1 Pp- 59-6i, particularly. 2 Seiss, " Last Times," pp. 100, 101. 



230 THE EETUEN SEEN IN SCEIPTUEE 



Bishop Merrill believes they ascended to heaven with 
Christ. 1 We know they were actually resurrected. Like 
Enoch, God may have taken them. Christ, a " corn of 
wheat " (John xii. 24), was buried in the ground ; a 
"wave-sheaf" (Lev. xxiii. 10-12), with Christ as the 
band, came forth as the "first-fruits" (1 Cor. xv. 20, 23). 
They ascended, unobserved, and went home to die no 
more. Possibly John the Baptist was among them along 
with early saints whose names we have read in the Hebrew 
Scriptures. We know not now, but we shall know here- 
after. God help us to be accounted worthy to meet them 
in the morning. 

/ 344. The Order of the Resurrection. In 1 Cor. 

xv. 23 we see that " every man rises in his own 
order : Christ the first-fruits ; afterwards they that are 
Christ's at His coming." The Greek word translated 
" order" is rdyjxa (tagmd), a military term which 
means band or regiment. The Apostle sees widely 
separated bauds with each man in his proper regi- 
ment or division. They belong to opposite king- 
doms. 

In the resurrection, Christ and many saints who rise in 
and around Jerusalem appear as the first band. More 
than 1,900 years afterwards, "they that are Christ's at His 
coming" appear as the second band. " Then, 11 but not 
immediately, "cometh the end" (verse 24), the last 
great body like a band of forlorn creatures ending the pro- 
cession. 

As there is a fixed space of more than 1,900 years be- 
tween the first and second divisions it is natural to see a 
thousand years between the second and third main divi- 
sions. In the expression, "then cometh the end," the 
Greek e7ra (eita) does not mean immediately after. Look 
at wheat as an illustration. In Mark iv. 28 we see " first 
the blade, then (e?ra, eita) the ear, after that (elra, eita) the 

1 " Sec. Coming," p. 164. 



PBE-MILLENNIAL EESUEEECTION 231 



full corn in the ear." Compare the intervening spaces 
with the whole life of the wheat and observe the three 
stages of growth with relatively long periods between each 
stage. Our word immediately occurs fifty times in the 
New Testament and in no instance is it translated from 
elra {eita). The words eira (eita) and e~eira (epeita) are 
used interchangeably (i Cor. xv. 5-7). See k'-ecza 
{epeita), rendered "then," in Gal. ii. 1, beginning the 
sentence: "Then fourteen years after I went up again to 
Jerusalem." 

345. Spiritual Life in Paradise lias been er- 
roneously regarded by some as " the first resurrec- 
tion" of Eev. xx. 5, 6. But a^daxaa^ (anastasis), here 
translated resurrection, and used thirty-nine times in 
the New Testament, always means the resurrection of 
the body. Other words are used to denote a spiritual 
rising from death in sin. If life in Paradise be the 
resurrection designated in Eev. xx. 5, 6, then every 
Christian is resurrected immediately when he dies. 
But this is not the meaning. Translation is not res- 
urrection. When saints die their spirits are trans- 
lated, not resurrected. The bodies of Enoch, 
Elijah, Christ and the living saints at the Lord's re- 
turn, are examples of translation, and their spirits 
are translated. A saint, dying, leaves his body to 
be resurrected ; but his spirit, translated, sweeps away 
with an angel band. 

346. " A Resurrection of the Dead, both of the 
Just and Unjust," mentioned by Paul in Acts xxiv. 
15, is quoted by some who attempt to show that there 
is but one resurrection and that it includes both the 
righteous and the wicked. 

However, this text militates not against the general 
teaching of the New Testament. But do not the just and 



232 THE EETUEN SEEN IN SCEIPTUEE 



unjust rise simultaneously in one resurrection— " a resur- 
rection ' ' ? 

(a) Field says the Pharisees " taught that the resurrec- 
tion would be partial, being confined to the bodies of the 
just," 1 and McClintock and Strong note that many of the 
Jews who believed in the doctrine of the resurrection did 
not believe that the wicked will be resurrected. 2 To cor- 
rect this error, and show that both will be resurrected, 
Paul utters the words of the text. 

(b) The grammatical construction of the sentence 
proves not that both classes will be raised at the same 
time. Let us illustrate : There will be a migration from 
the East to the West, both of the rich and the poor. Does 
this sentence, if it were true, prove that both classes will 
migrate at the same time ? It proves nothing more than 
that both classes will go west. Again : The Southland will 
be completely deserted. There will be a removal of the 
population, both of the white and the coloured. And so, 
as a fact, there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of 
the just and unjust. When completed, not a man will re- 
main in his grave. 

347. The Hour of the Resurrection. Post-mil- 
lennial writers cite John v. 28 as a simultaneous res- 
urrection of the righteous and the wicked. We read 
the passage : 

" The hour is coming, in which all that are in the 
graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; they 
that have done good, unto the resurrection of life ; and they 
that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation " 
(John v. 28, 29). 

"All" rise in one "hour." How long is this 
hour? 

These are the words of Christ. To Him, then, we look 
for the interpretation. 

Looking back three verses (verse 25) we find the " hour " 

1 " Theology," p. 276. 2 M, VIII, 1054. 



PEE-MILLENNIAL EESUEEECTION 233 



which " is coming, and now is," and which designates the 
length of the period of spiritual passing from "death unto 
life " (verse 24). This " hour" had then begun, was yet 
future, and has not ended. This hour is the entire period 
of salvation which at this time has lasted 1,900 years. 

In the previous chapter Jesus is talking to the woman of 
Samaria at Jacob's well. In John iv. 21 He mentions a 
coming "hour." Inverse 23 He says: "But the hour 
cometh, and now is, when true worshippers shall worship 
the father in spirit and in truth." (1) That " hour " had 
commenced when Christ was speaking — " and now is " ; 
(2) it has not ended ; (3) will it ever expire ? 

Permitting Christ to explain His own meaning, we see 
that He makes the hour of spiritual salvation and the 
hour of spiritual worship periods of indefinite length which 
are already nearly twice as long as the millennial period. 
The context forbids an interpretation which makes the 
"hour" of John v. 28 the twenty-fourth part of a solar 
day. Moreover, the two distinct resurrections are seen in 
verse 29. 

The Greek wpa (hora), meaning hour, is translated 
"time" in John xvi. 4, where Christ speaks of a period 
of considerable length. John, who wrote the Gospel bear- 
ing his name, uses the term &pa (hora) twice in 1 John 
ii. 18, where it is translated " time," and where, accord- 
ing to Wesley's note, it means the whole of the present 
dispensation (180). 

348. The Last Day. The resurrection of the 
righteous is to take place "at the last day" (John 
vi. 39, 40, 44, 54). This happy event will be the 
morning star of the long awaited millennial day seen 
by Job several thousand years ago (Job xix. 25, 26). 
Field says "the day of judgment is, indeed, another 
grand dispensation." 1 David Brown speaks repeat- 
edly of the glory of "the Latter Day," by which he 
designates the Millennium. Of this day Merrill says 

1 "Theology," p. 278. 



234 THE KETUBN SEEN IX SCEIPTUEE 



"we neither affirm nor deny anything as to its 
length." 1 

(a) Since Isaiah and other Old Testament prophets 
who point to the day of Christ describe events which ac- 
cording to their very nature must cover a long period of 
time, but which, nevertheless, are to come to pass "in 
that day," we are obliged to conclude that this " day " is 
an era of long duration. 

(b) In the New Testament the term "day" denotes a 
long period of time in John ix. 4 ; 2 Cor. vi. 2 ; Rom. x. 21 ; 
Heb. iv. 7, 8. Christ speaks of that day, saying : " Your 
father Abraham rejoiced to see my day ; and he saw it 
and was glad " (John viii. 56). Another place not cited 
is Heb. hi. 8, 9 where " the day of temptation in the wil- 
derness " is mentioned as a period of " forty years." 

(c) The saints arise early in the morning of the 
"latter day" (Job xix. 25) but the wicked remain in 
their graves until after the twilight hour. The wicked 
have no second probation. 

349. The Last Trump. "We shall not all sleep, 
bat we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the 
twinkling of an eye, at the last trump ; for the 
trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised 
incorruptible, and we shall be changed" (1 Cor. 
xv. 51, 52). Since the blood of righteous Abel 
stained the site of his ancient altar the vast multi- 
tude of departed saints have waited long for the 
redemption of their bodies. Bugles have blown from 
earth and trumpets have sounded from heaven but 
we are waiting for the blast that will call the pilgrims 
home. "Be patient, therefore, brethren, unto the 
coming of the Lord " ( Jas. v. 7). 

(a) The wicked are not resurrected at this time. 
1 " Second Coming," p. 209. 



PEE- MILLENNIAL KESUKKECTION 235 



Verses 54—57 of the chapter cited make this so clear that 
special exposition is not required. 

(b) In 1 Thess. iv. 16 we hear the trumpet sound 
calling forth the dead in Christ together with the living 
who meet Him in the air. We shall not all die ; the liv- 
ing, translated, will be "changed" into incorruptibility. 
No trumpet sounds at the end of the thousand years. The 
series of tribulation trumpets in subsequent apocalyptic 
scenes is of a special order and is not related to the resur- 
rection of mankind. 

(c) But in Rev. x. 1-11 we hear a "mighty angel" 
sounding over land and sea that "time" shall be "no 
longer" (verses 1, 6). Here let these points be noted : 
(1) After this trumpet sounds John is told that he " must 
prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and 
tongues, and kings " (verse n) ; the end, therefore, is not 
yet. (2) It is not a resurrection trump, as the chapter 
shows. (3) The word translated "time" in this place 
denotes delay: there shall be no more delay before the 
realization of oncoming events. 1 

(d) Returning to 1 Thess. iv. 16, it is not improbable 
that there are two blasts sounded in quick succession. 
The " trump of God " sounds and the dead arise ; almost 
instantly it sounds again and the living are translated, but 
they all ascend together. 

As a clear illustration, go back to old Mt. Sinai. 
Jehovah is to appear in majesty and power. The people 
are commanded to come up to the mount when the 
trumpet sounds. Neither God nor Moses gives them any 
warning that there will be more than one sound. The 
trumpet sounds very loud and the people tremble. The 
sound is premonitory and the people begin to move. The 
trumpet sound waxes louder and louder. The Lord comes 
down on Sinai and Moses ascends the mount. Moses 
ascended at the sound of the last trump, and yet like the 
intermittent blasts of a fire whistle it was one call to one 

1 Rotherham, Hind's «« Interlinear Testament," American Revision 
Committee, and others, use " delay " instead of " time " in their 
translations. Seiss uses " delay." 



236 THE BETURN SEEN IN SCRIPTURE 



place on one occasion for one purpose and for one class 
of people — the people of God (Ex. xix.). Likewise the 
last trump of i Cor. xv. 52 will be none other than the 
final blast of the trumpet call for appearance on the cloud 
encircled peak of rapturous translation and resurrection 
glory on the morning when the saints go up and the Lord 
comes down. " Blessed and holy is he that hath part in 
the first resurrection." (Ex. xix. 9-11, 13, 16, 19.) 

350. The Parting View. In the Scriptures we 
see two separate and distinct resurrections. Many a 
cloud of mist thus disappears. Dean Farrar, in the 
" Cambridge Bible " on St. Luke, observes that " the 
main difficulties in our Lord's prophecy vanish 
when we bear in mind that Prophecy is like a land- 
scape in which time and space are subordinated to 
eternal realities, and in which events look like hills 
seen chain behind chain which to the distant spectator 
appear as one." 1 

Looking along a line of telegraph poles each seems 
to overlap the other and all appear as one. Looking 
at two heavenly bodies in conjunction one partially 
eclipses the other and both present the aspect of a 
single star. We see the feet of Christ on the Mount 
of Olivet in the foreground and far beyond we discern 
the rising mountains that border on the vast eternity. 
The Millennium lies between. 

1 Ed. 1895, P- 3 I 5- 



SECTION VIII. — THE WHOLE TENOR OF 
BIBLE TEACHING IS PEE-MILLENNIAL 



XXXIV. — THE KINGDOM OF GOD 
" Thy kingdom come " (Matt. vi. 10). 

351. Imperfect Vision. We read of six blind 
men of Hindustan who went to see an elephant. 
Each man examined a certain part of the interesting 
animal, but no man examined more than one part. 
One man felt the trunk, another the tusks, another 
an ear ; one the leg, one the tail, and another the 
side. Each in succession, with much vehemence, 
maintains that the elephant is like a snake, a spear, a 
fan, a tree, a rope, a wall. Each was partly right, 
and all were wrong. 

We find " the kingdom of God 7 ' in the Scriptures. 
Some see one phase of it and fail to see any other. 
This partial view creates confusion. In one place 
the " kingdom " signifies one thing ; in another place 
it signifies another thing. 

352. Kingdom Defined. Baedela (basileia), Greek 
for kingdom, means ' ' dominion ; reign ; rule ; the 
exercise of kingly power." 1 

Of the "kingdom" in the Scriptures, West remarks: 
" In its fullness, it is past, it is present, it is to come ; it is 
inward and spiritual existing now, it is outward and visible 
yet to exist ; it is heavenly ; it is a kingdom of grace ; it 
is a kingdom of glory ; it is earthly ; it is temporal ; it is 
everlasting. In its forms it is many, in its essence it is one. 

1 Robinson's " Lexicon." 
237 



233 THE RETURN SEEX IN SCRIPTURE 



It has various dispensations. It is above, it is below, and 
its highest consummation is the realization of the Will of 
God on earth as it is now realized in heaven ; a consum- 
mation begun below, developed in the Age to come, and 
completed in the Eternal State. We cannot wonder, there- 
fore, at the ardour of the early Christians in their hope of 
the advent, the resurrection of the righteous, the coming 
Kingdom and Glory, and on this very earth. It thrilled 
their souls. It led them to martyrdom." 1 

353. The Church and the Kingdom. Schaff 
says the Church was founded in a. d. 30 on the day 
of Pentecost. 2 "Then," affirms Bishop Merrill, "the 
Son of Man came in His kingdom." 3 But Adam 
Clarke, explaining Matt. xxiv. 30, 31, points to the 
destruction of Jerusalem in a. d. 70 and teaches 
that the Son of Man then came " in the clouds of 
heaven with power and great glory," and says "it 
was after this period that the kingdom of Christ 
began." 4 The Christ who ascended did not return 
in A. D. 30 nor in A. D. 70 (310 b). 

The coming of the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, depended 
upon the Lord's going away. After the ascension, Christ 
sent the Comforter (John xvi. 7). The person of Christ 
was absent; the person of the Holy Spirit was present. 
Merrill and Clarke differ. (See 291.) 

The Church and the Kingdom are not synonymous. 

354. The Transfiguration. Before Peter, James 
and John tasted of death Jesus took them up into 
a high mountain and gave them a glimpse of the 
power and glory of the millennial kingdom (Matt, 
xvii. 1-9). The promise made in Matt. xvi. 28 was 
then fulfilled. This was the kingdom in miniature. 



1 " J. W. and Pre.," p. 46. 

3 " Second Coming," p. 29. 

4 « Com. N. T.," ed. 1834, I, 213. 



2 « Ch. Hist.," I, 59. 



THE KINGDOM OF GOD 



239 



In Moses we see the resurrection of the dead in Christ ; 
in Elijah, the translated saints. Moses and Elijah were 
actually there engaged in conversation with Christ (Luke 
ix. 30). Peter in his Epistle (1 Pet. i. 16-18) refers to 
this event. They felt the power; they saw the "bright 
cloud"; they beheld the glory. So will it be when the 
Lord returns. 

355. " My Kingdom not of this World " (John 
xviii. 36). So Christ declares. He says also con- 
cerning His saints, ' ' Ye are not of this world ' ' (John 
xv. 19). But the saints are in this world, although 
not of it, being born from above (John iii. 3, 8). 
The Millennium will be on earth after the Lord 
returns. 

(a) Trench and others on the "kingdom." "Not the 
unfolding of any powers which already existed in the 
world, — a kingdom not rising, as those other kingdoms, 
' out of the earth,' but a new power brought into the world 
from above." 1 Edward King observes that it is " not de- 
rived from any powers or authority in this world," 2 and 
Alford remarks that "this kingdom is over this world," 
but not "established by this world's power." 3 The 
Greek preposition kk (ek) means out of. My kingdom 
issues not from this world, is the meaning of the text. 

(b) The kingdom within you. " The kingdom of 
God is within (ivro? entos, in the midst of ) you " (Luke 
xvii. 21 ). These words w r ere spoken by the Lord to Christ- 
rejecting Pharisees in answer to a question (verse 20) ; their 
hearts were barren. The present spiritual kingdom which 
"cometh not by observation " is in the hearts of Christ 
and His disciples who labour in the midst of Pharisees. 
The kingdom of God was thus among them. 

(c) " The kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but 

1 " On the Parables," 187S, p. 160, 

2 " Morsels of Criticism," I, 421. 

3 " Com." in loc. ; so Krummacher, " Suffering Saviour," p. 248 ; 
Tholuck, " Light from the Cross," p. 171 ; and many others. 



240 THE EETUEN SEEN IN SCEIPTUEE 



righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost " (Rom. 
xiv. 17). But let us not forget that Jesus said to His dis- 
ciples, "I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the 
vine until that day when I drink it new with you in My 
Father's kingdom" (Matt. xxvi. 29). " Blessed are ye 
that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God " (Luke 
xiv. 15) ; "I appoint unto you a kingdom . . . that 
ye may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom " (Luke 
xxii. 29, 30). These Scriptures point to the millennial 
kingdom. But eating and drinking does not make a home, 
nor is it the kingdom of the saints. 

356. Distinctions. Distinguish clearly the vari- 
ous phases of the kingdom and difficulties disappear. 
To the spiritually un discerning the Bible is full of 
paradoxes while to others it is admirable in its 
harmonies. 

357. Millennial Rest. " There remaineth there- 
fore a rest (o-a/S/Jar^/zo? sabbatismos, sabbath) for the 
people of God " (Heb. iv. 9). 1 



XXXV.— THE TREND OF THE AGE 
" This present evil world " (Gal. i. 4). 

The trend of the present age or dispensation shows 
no prospect of the Millennium until Jesus comes 
again (19-28). 

358. Evangelization of the World. During this 
dispensation are we not to go into all the world and 
preach the Gospel to every creature and is it not 
generally known that Arthur T. Pierson sounded 
forth the slogan which calls for the evangelization of 

1 Written to the Hebrew Christians, who understood the meaning. 

(See 39 b.) 



TEEM) OF THE AGE 241 



the world during the present generation? This ques- 
tion we answer in the affirmative. Pierson was a 
distinguished pre-millenarian (307). 

(a) An evangelist (Acts xxi. 8; Eph. iv. n ; 2 Tim. 
iv. 5) euayyeAt<TT7js (euaggelistes) is " one who announces 
good tidings." The Greek word ebayyeX'^ut (euaggelizo), 
which means evangelize, is found in fifty-one places in the 
New Testament, and in forty-nine verses it is rendered 
"preach" while in the remaining two places it is "de- 
clare." The evangelization of the world is the preaching 
to all nations of the good tidings of the Gospel. 

(b) But the Gospel " is the power of God unto salva- 
tion to every one that believeth " (Rom. i. 18). True, to 
every one " that believeth" As free moral agents men may 
or may not accept the Gospel. The preaching is to all ; the 
blessing is to him " that believeth." To some it is " sal- 
vation " ; to others it is "death unto death" (2 Cor. ii. 
16). There will be no Millennium until Jesus returns. 

359. Prevalence and Increase of Crime. On this 
subject testimony has been heard (19-28). Statistics 
prove that crime of various kinds is on the increase. 

(a) The general state of society is deplorable. During 
the past few decades the increase in the number of 
divorces has been more than seven times greater than the 
increase in population. Moral forces having failed, 
legislative bodies are taking steps to induce women to 
dress modestly. The extent of the " white slave" traffic 
is appalling. Law or no law, the consumption of cigarettes 
is increasing annually by the billion. 

(b) The density and spread of the Mohammedan cloud 
over Asia and Africa is creating alarm in the missionary 
world. The shadows of paganism are seen on the shores 
of the Occident. Theosophy, occultism, spiritualism, 
practical infidelity, political fermentation, financial in- 
equality and social unrest are not trending towards holiness 
nor evolving into millennial glory (19-25). 

(c) A century ago minerals for implements of war were 



242 THE KETUKN SEEN IN SCRIPTUBE 



bought by the pound but now they are eagerly sought in 
hundred-ton quantities (26). 

360. The Gospel not a Failure. "Narrow is the 
way that leadeth unto life, and few there be that 
find it " (Matt. vii. 14). "Many are called, but few 
are chosen ' 9 (Matt. xxii. 14). Does this reflect upon 
the power of the Gospel or make the work of the 
Holy Spirit a failure ! No. 

A faithful man of God, preaching a full Gospel and 
praying from house to house, rejoices over them that be- 
lieve and are saved ; but, though he weep between the 
porch and the altar, he fails to see the salvation of the 
majority of the people. Who is to blame ? Was the 
preaching of John the Baptist a failure? Was the preach- 
ing of Christ a failure ? Because converts fall and wander 
away was that revival a failure? Oh, wait, meekly wait, 
and murmur not. The Jews rejected Christ and turned 
away from Paul. Ever since that day God has been tak- 
ing out of the Gentiles " a people for His name" (Acts 
xv. 14). The true Church is the ItzKlr^ia {ecclesid) — the 
"called-out assembly" (353). Nowhere have all been 
converted, but everywhere the Gospel calls out some. In 
the aggregate we see a mighty host. The Jew, with his 
face unveiled, will turn again with a broken heart. When 
Jesus comes to reign on earth, encompassed by shining 
millions saved by the power of the Gospel, we shall see 
that it was not a failure. Although the Gospel of Christ is 
adequate to save to the uttermost every human being now 
living, the failure to see this result achieved lies in the fact 
that men choose death rather than life. Men are "lovers 
of pleasure more than lovers of God " (2 Tim. iii. 4). 

361. This Age. In history the term age is used 
to signify a century or a certain period of time, as 
the "Dark Ages." In the Bible the Greek term 
a} cuv (aiori), meaning age or dispensation, usually 
designates what is commonly known as the Christian 



TREND OF THE AGE 



243 



era. The life and labour of Christian people is seen 
during this dispensation, but the age is evil. 

(a) Paul speaks of "this present evil world" (aia>v, 
aio?i, age). — Gal. i. 4. He mentions " the god of this 
world" (aidtv, aion). — 2 Cor. iv. 4. He says "the days 
are evil " (Eph. v. 16), and he regards it a small thing to 
be judged " of man's (j][i£pa<$, hemeras) day " (1 Cor. iv. 
3). " We wrestle . . . against the rulers of the 
darkness of this (atcov, aion) world " (Eph. vi. 12). The 
"whole world (z6<j/xo$, kosmos) lieth in wickedness" 
(1 John v. 19). " Be not conformed to this world " (alcuv, 
aion, age, or dispensation). — Rom. xii. 2. This is man's 
day, an evil age ; but the Lord's, and that of the saints, is 
coming. The Lord will soon return. 

(b) Until the Lord returns good and evil forces will 
flourish together (Matt. xiii. 13-49; 1 Tim. iv. 1 ; 2 Tim. 
iii. 1-5 ; 2 Thess. ii. 7, 8) ; false teachers will continue 
(Matt. vii. 22, 23 ; 2 Tim. iii. 13 ; 2 Pet. ii. 1-3) ; per- 
secution will last (Mark x. 30 ; John xv. 20 ; 2 Tim. iii. 
12) ; suffering will not cease nor millennial glory be seen 
(Rom. viii. 17-19; 1 Cor. iv. 8 ; 2 Thess. i. 5-7; 1 Pet. 

1. 6, 7, 11 ; v. 1-5) ; men will be rebellious (Matt. xxii. 
1-14; Luke xii. 49, 53; xix. 12-27); the Jews remain in 
unbelief (Luke xxi. 24; Matt, xxiii. 38, 39; Rom. xi. 25- 
27); the power of the devil continue (Rom. xii. 2 ; vi. 11, 
12 ; Eph. ii. 1, 2 ; 2 Thess. ii. 7-12 ; 1 John v. 19 ; Rev. 
xx. 1-3) ; and corruption remain amid civilization and 
culture (Luke xxi. 8-1 1, 25-27 ; Rom. viii. 22, 23; Heb. 
xii. 25-29). Read Matt. xxiv. 12, 37-39 with Gen. vi. 

2, 5 ■ 2 Thess. ii. 3 ; James v. 1-5 ; 2 Peter iii. 3, 4 ; Jude 
18 ; Rev. iii. 15-18. 

362. The Coming Age. Clement, Justin Martyr 
and other early Fathers (32, 40, 50) speak of the 
" future age," the 4 4 age to come/' and the " coming 
kingdom,' 7 by which they meant the Millennial Age. 1 

1 Nathaniel West, « J. W. and Pre.," p. 46. 



244 THE BETUKN SEEN IN SCEIPTUEE 

They looked for the Millennial age to follow the 
Lord's return. 

XXXVI. — THE JEW 

" The Jew first " (Rom. ii. 9, 10). 

363. "Frederick the Great once demanded proof 
in one word that the Bible was inspired. The 
answer given was £ Jew ' — an answer which must ap- 
peal to all. ... In accordance with Jehovah's 
oft-repeated warning, the Jews are scattered among 
the nations ; but, unlike all other people on the face 
of the earth, they never lose their nationality by as- 
similating themselves with other people amongst 
whom they dwell ; and hence, in equally strict accord 
with Balaam's prophecy, wherever they are found 
they always 'dwell alone' and are not reckoned 
among the nations ! " 1 (See Numbers xxiii. 9.) 

" Their preservation," says Bishop Newton, "is really 
one of the most illustrious acts of Divine Providence. 
They are dispersed among all nations, yet not confounded 
with any. . . . They can produce their pedigree 
from the beginning of the world. . . . After wars, 
massacres and persecutions they still subsist ; they are still 
quite numerous. What but a supernatural power could 
have preserved them in such a manner as no other nation 
on earth has been preserved ? " 2 

364. Trodden Down. Jesus, the Jew, came to 
His own, but they received Him not (John i. 11). 
They rejected the Saviour. They have been dis- 
persed, oppressed, and trodden down. Their ancient 

1 Sidney Collett, "All About the Bible," pp. 154, 155. 

2 « Dissertation on the Prophecies," VIII, section 2. 



THE JEW 



245 



city has been held by the Eomaus, Saracens, Pranks, 
Mamelukes and Turks. 

In a. d. 70 the Romans, under Titus, besieged the city 
of Jerusalem and razed it to the ground. Josephus relates 
the harrowing details. " Since then the holy city has lain 
at the mercy of the Gentiles, and will so remain until the 
times of the Gentiles are fulfilled." 1 

365. Restored. In a spiritual sense the promises 
of God to the children of Abraham are realized by 
all people who are circumcised in heart and accounted 
inwardly as Jews (Rom. ii. 28, 29), but we must re- 
member that every promise made to the Jewish peo- 
ple will be literally fulfilled. God hath not cast them 
off forever. (See Eom. ii. 5-10.) 

(a) Samuel Wakefield declares that "a future restora- 
tion awaits this people, and will be to the world a glorious 
demonstration of the truth of prophecy. . . . Three 
things are certain : the Jews themselves expect it ; they 
are preserved by the providence of God as a distinct peo- 
ple for their country ; and their country, which is in fact 
possessed by no one, is preserved for them." 2 

(b) Adam Clarke exclaims: "The conversion of the 
Jews will be a subject of peculiar delight and exultation to 
God Himself ! There will be more than ordinary joy in 
heaven when the Jews return to God through Christ. 
This event cannot be at a great distance. . . . On 
their conversion to Christianity they shall become as 
eminent as they ever were in the most illustrious days of 
their history " 3 (399). 

366. A Scripture Outline. 

(a) The Abrahamic covenant (Gen. xii. 1-3; xiii. 
I 4~ I 7) promised land never yet wholly possessed (Gen. 
xv. 18). 



1 M, IV, 841. 2 " Theology," 1869, p. 96. 

3 " Com." on Zeph. iii. 17, 20, in 1824. 



246 THE KETUKX SEEX LN T SCEIPTUKE 



(b) Spiritual blindness will be removed when " the 
fullness of the Gentiles be come in " (Rom. xi. 25, 26). 

(c) The tabernacle of David will be rebuilt (Amos ix. 
n-15 ; Acts xv. 16) (311). 

(d) In Isa. lxi. 1-7 we see both advents. Now is the 
"acceptable year of the Lord" (verse 5 with Luke iv. 
16-21). Then, when Christ returns, will be the "day of 
vengeance" (verse 2 with 2 Thess. i. 7-10). Isa. lxi. 4 
and Acts xv. 16 view the same event. " The Lord will 
set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant 
of His people " (Isa. xi. 11) ; " they shall dwell in their 
own land " (Jer. xxiii. 8) ; " ten men shall take hold of the 
skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you, 
for we have heard that God is with you " (Zech. viii. 23). 

(e) The Jews will be rulers over former oppressors 
(Isa. xiv. 2). After the Babylonian captivity they were 
servants (Neh. ix. 36). 

(f ) They will have a King (Ezek. xxxvii. 22, 24, 25). 
"David, my servant" in Ezek. xxxvii. 24, 25 is Christ, 
as is seen in Ezek. xxxiv. 23, 24, according to Adam 
Clarke. The Lord as King will reign and prosper, and 
execute judgment and justice (Jer. xxiii. 5). See Jer. 
xxx. 9; xxxiii. 15; Hos. iii. 5; Luke i. 323 Acts ii. 

29> 30 (3"> 3 12 )- 

(g) They will have judges on a divinely exalted order 
after the ancient theocratic form of government (Judges 
ii. 18; Isa. i. 26; Matt. xix. 28). 

(h) There will be a judgment of Gentile nations more 
dreadful than that of any former occasion (Joel iii. 1, 2, 12 ; 
Zeph. iii. 8 ; Matt. xxv. 31-46). (See 389-400.) 

(i) This judgment ends the present age (Joel iii. 13 ; 
Matt. xiii. 39). "All Israel shall be saved ... the 
Deliverer shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob " (Rom. 
xi. 26), and they shall see Him whom they have pierced" 
(Zech. xii. 10). (See 404. ) 

(j) The glory of the Lord will fill the earth (Hab. 
ii. 14). 

(k) On Romans xi. 27 Adam Clarke subjoins the fol- 
lowing Old Testament Scriptures relating to the Jewish 
commonwealth and awaiting fulfillment : Isa. ii. 2-5 ; 



VARIOUS SUBJECTS 



247 



xix. 24, 25 ; xxv. 6-12 ; xxx. iS, 19, 26 ; lx. ; lxv. 18-25 ; 
Jer. xxxi. 10-12; xlvi. 27, 28; Ezek. xx. 40-44; xxviii. 
25, 26; xxxiv. 20-31; xxxvi. 8-15; xxxvii. 21-28; 
xxxix. 25-29; Joel iii. i, 2, 17; Amos ix. 9-15 ; Obad. 
17, 21; Micah iv. 3-7; vii. 18-20; Zeph. iii. 19, 20. 

XXXVII. — OBSERVATIONS OX VARIOUS 
SUBJECTS 

" Search the Scriptures . . . they are they which testify of 
me (John v. 39). 

We shall examine a few Scriptures frequently 
shown as the promise of a Millennium before the 
Lord returns. AVe shall then present a number of 
subjects which vre cannot reconcile with the post- 
millennial foreview of the coming of the Lord. 

OBJECTIONS WEIGHED 

367. The Parable of the Leaven. In Matt, 
xiii. 33 we read the parable of the leaven. 

"The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven which a 
woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the 
whole was leavened." 

Some, using this parable in a good sense, illustrate 
the operations of divine grace in the soul. Some 
post-millennial writers see in it the promise of a 
converted world before the Lord returns. This it 
does not prove. Others, viewing in it a good mean- 
ing, look beyond the Lord's return and see its con- 
summation in the millennial kingdom. 

(a) Applying rules of interpretation adopted by numer- 
ous post-millennial writers we shall examine this text. 
(1) It is a parable. (2) " Leaven," used here in a 
figurative sense, must be interpreted according to its 
general meaning in literal usage. (3) Literally, it 
denotes sin. (4) Therefore here it denotes apostasy. 



248 THE EETUEN SEEN IN SCEIPTUEE 



(b) The Lord's teaching. Christ gives us no inter- 
pretation of this parable, but in His discourse He utters 
and interprets the parable of the tares (372) and of the net 
(373), unto which He likens the same "kingdom of 
heaven " (Matt. xiii. 24, 33, 47). Since our Lord's 
interpretation of these parables proves that there will be 
no Millennium until His return, therefore any interpretation 
by man which makes the parable of the leaven teach a 
contrary doctrine is incorrect. 

(c) Uninterpreted parables are inadequate proof-texts. 

(d) While this parable may be used to illustrate the 
general diffusion of Christian doctrine it fails even as an 
illustration to signify anything else. (1) The leaven 
of the Jews and of modern bacteriology is rank poison. 1 
(2) The carbonic acid gas, escaping, makes the bread ex- 
pand ; the heat kills the putrid bacteria. 

(e) While leaven is the divinely chosen symbol of 
corruption, salt, its opposite, is the emblem of grace and 
holiness. 

(f ) If we say, however, that the Gospel leavens the 
world, what does this prove ? Leaven operates as it pro- 
ceeds and the mass through which it has passed is then 
leavened. Take the city of Jerusalem as the centre of the 
lump to be leavened. After 1,900 years, is Jerusalem 
leavened? Mosheim tells us that "the Gospel first pene- 
trated into the immense empire of China about the year 
637, and that there are unexceptional proofs that the 
northern parts of China, even before this country, abounded 
with Christians. Alas ! brethren, where are the remains 
of those churches now?" 2 Has that portion of China 
been leavened since the seventh century? "The Nes- 
torians, who dwelt in Syria, Persia, and India, preached 
to the fierce and barbarous nations who lived in the re- 
motest borders and deserts of Asia with remarkable suc- 
cess." 3 The parable of the leaven, at every turn, fails to 

1 See art. " Bread," by C. F. Chandler, " Univ. Cycle," II, 144 5 
art. " Fermentation," by Ira Remsen, Ibid., IV, 295, 297, 301 ; 
Adam Clarke, " Com. Ex. xii. 8," I, 336 ; M, V, 308. 

2 " Eccl. Hist.," I, 431. 3 Ibid. 



VABIOUS SUBJECTS 249 



prove what some have read between its lines. 1 No spot on 
earth is now enjoying Millennial glory. The devil, loose, 
finds access to every sanctuary. Mighty revivals are often 
followed by fearful apostasy. Millennial glory, world- 
wide in extent and a thousand years long in duration, will 
follow the Lord's return. 

368. The Parable of the Mustard Seed. It 

seems unfortunate that those who avoid the ' i figura- 
tive" book of Eevelation must rely upon uninter- 
preted parables to confute the plaiu and obvious 
teaching of the Apocalypse. The parable of the 
mustard seed is not interpreted by the Saviour nor 
by any of the inspired writers. This tiny seed, sown 
in the field, becomes a tree in the branches of which 
the birds of the air find a lodging-place (Matt. xiii. 31, 
32). In this discourse the fowls of the air devouring 
the seed of the sower (verse 4) are interpreted by the 
Saviour as being " the wicked one " (verse 19). 

If all who unite with the visible church were the true 
children of God we might hope to see ecclesiastical as- 
cendency triumph over the wickedness of the world ; but 
the Laodicean church at the approaching end of this age 
has its denominational branches bending under the weight 
of fowls that are foul in more than one particular. Close 
observers see the corrupt political fowl, the greedy financial 
fowl, the bloated whiskey fowl, the licentious society fowl 
and many a gorgeous bird of fashion. They are not all 
doves and yet they gather to lodge in the tree. Few 
become doves. 

369. The Stone that Daniel Saw. Daniel's 
interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream (Dan. ii. 
31-45) is often used to teach that the kingdom of 

1 A woman, kneading dough, uses her fists with such violence that 
we hear the sound of the impact. The strokes of judgment are im- 
pending (Isa. xxvi. 9, 10). 



250 THE EETUEN SEEN IN SCBIPTUKE 



God in its present spiritual aspect is destined gradu- 
ally to subdue all iniquity and fill the earth with 
millennial glory prior to the return of Christ. In 
reality it teaches that the coming of the Lord will 
bring the Millennium. 

(a) The image is seen in completed form before it is 
touched. 

(b) As soon as the stone appears it smites the image. 

(c) The feet and toes, the last form of Gentile world- 
power, are the first to be struck. ' 

(d) The collapse of the image is instantaneous. 

(e) The substance of the image, instead of being con- 
verted into the substance of the smiting stone, is scattered 
like chaff from a summer threshing floor and borne away 
by the wind (verse 35). 

(f ) After the collapse and disappearance of the image 
the smiting stone, instead of slowly growing, immediately 
becomes a great mountain and fills the whole earth. 

The dream of the image as interpreted by Daniel is a 
vision of the appearing of Christ and His kingdom bringing 
tribulation judgment to earth's assembled nations. The 
ungodly "are like the chaff which the wind driveth away " 
(Psa. i. 4). (See 389-395.) This superseding kingdom 
must be as literal as the four kingdoms superseded. 

370. The Restoration of All Things. Acts iii. 
21 has been understood by some writers to mean that 
Christ will not return from heaven until after the 
Millennium. 

" He shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached 
unto you, whom the heaven must receive until the times 
of restitution of all things which God hath spoken by the 
mouth of His holy prophets since the world began " (Acts 
iii. 20, 21). 

In this place the term u restitution 7 7 has been 
understood to mean fulfillment. This is not the 
meaning of the original word. Christ returns and 



VAKIOUS SUBJECTS 251 



with His return the millennial kingdom dates its 
commencement. 

(a) ' Ayo kardax acts (apokatastasis) is the Greek word 
here rendered "restitution." Acts i. 6 is the only other 
place in which the word is used. Its literal meaning is 
restoration, and not fulfillment. The word fulfill in its 
various forms is found over one hundred times in the New 
Testament and in not a single instance is it translated from 
apokatastasis nor from any form of that word. 

(b) The heaven retains Christ not until the restoration 
of all things, but "until the times of the restitution (restora- 
tion) of all things." When the time for restoration arrives 
the Son of God appears on the scene. He destroys Anti- 
christ (375) ; restores the kingdom in power and great 
glory commensurate with divine majesty. 

(c) In Attic Greek literature the word d.TzottazaoTaGi$ 
{apokatastasis) often signifies "a putting down again." 
When heaven releases Christ He will find " the god of 
this world " (2 Cor. iv. 4), " the prince of the power of 
the air" (Eph. ii. 2), boasting of Satanic achievement and 
pointing to Antichrist enthroned (376). 

This same Jesus, who in the day of His humiliation was 
sorely tempted by the devil, now returns triumphing in the 
greatness of His strength, and quickly seizing the old 
usurper puts him down again with such tremendous force 
that Satan is reminded of his pre-Adamic descent when he 
fell like lightning from on high. Then he was hurled 
from heaven to earth ; now he is cast into the bottomless 
pit. Christ " beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven " 
(Luke x. 18), and may it not have been He who cast the 
revolter down ? Now Satan sustains the second fall. We 
note the second "down," not on a mat, but into the pit ; 
not for a few seconds, but for a thousand years. Satan is 
"down and out." (See 326, 327.) 

Since the devil did the damage that the Lord must now 
repair the old serpent is removed before Christ begins the 
work of restoration. 

37 1 . Animal Restoration. The influence of Chris- 



252 THE EETUEN SEEN IN SCKIPTUKE 

tianity and the power of the Gospel to transform 
savage characters into meek followers of Christ is 
believed by some to be the teaching of Isa. xi. 6-8 ; 
lxv. 25, in which we see the "wolf" and the 
"leopard" lying down with the "lamb" and the 
"kid." Whatever illustrative value may be seen, 
the real meaning of the passage lies in its literal in- 
terpretation. (For full text see 322 i.) 

(a) An application of the rules of rhetoric proves that 
it is not an allegory and the laws of exegesis will not allow 
the figurative interpretation. 

(b) All things will not be restored unless the animal 
kingdom is included. The animal and vegetable king- 
doms will be restored. Adam Clarke assigns ten cogent 
reasons for belief in the literal restoration of the animal 
kingdom ; 1 John Wesley devotes a whole sermon in sup- 
port of literal restoration ; 2 John Fletcher teaches a literal 
restoration of the animal kingdom to Edenic gentleness. 3 
Carnivorous animals become herbivorous. 4 

DIRECT EVIDENCE OFFERED 

We now proceed to the examination of several 
Scriptures showing that the Millennium will not pre- 
cede the Lord's return. 

372. The Parable of the Tares. In Matt. xiii. 
24-30, 36-42 we read the parable of the tares with 
the interpretation thereof. After Christ stated this 
parable, and before He gave the interpretation, He 
uttered the parables of the leaven and mustard seed 
(367, 368) which remain uninterpreted by divine 
authority. According to the interpretation of the 

1 « Com., N. T.," II, 101. 3 " Sermons," II, 54. 

3 "Works," III, 524. 

4 See Cheyne, George Adam Smith and Birks quoted by Peloubet, 
"Select Notes," 1892, p. 13. Read poems by Pope, Pollock and 
Bickersteth. 



VAEIOUS SUBJECTS 253 



parable of the tares there will be 110 Millennium 
until after the Lord returns. 

(a) "The field is the (at 00-^09, kosmos) world" on 
which we live ; " the harvest is the end of the (a\6v, aioti) 
world " or present dispensation ; "the tares are the chil- 
dren of the wicked one " (verses 38, 39). On earth dur- 
ing this age the wicked shall continue. At the end of 
this age the separation is pre-millennial (390, 391). 

(b) Tares have always been more numerous than 
wheat. As long as the devil is not bound he will sow 
tares which will grow and flourish. Wheat does not out- 
grow tares; we are forbidden to root them out (verse 29). 

(c) Present agencies are adequate for the salvation of 
all ; failure lies at the door of the wicked ; they are called 
but refuse to come. When post-millennial writers as- 
sert that present agencies will produce the Millennium be- 
fore the Lord's return they virtually declare that these 
agencies have been a failure for 1,900 years. There has 
never been a square mile on earth where millennial con- 
ditions have prevailed during a single decade of history in 
the annals of the human race. Agencies are adequate but 
the devil is loose and men are perverse (367 f ). 

373. The Parable of the Net. The net, cast into 
the sea, is drawn to the shore and found to contain 
good and bad (Matt. xiii. 47-50). The Lord inter- 
prets this parable and repeats His teaching as seen in 
the "tares." Christ and the heavenly harvesters 
come to make a separation. There has been no 
Millennium. 

Not only in the sea, but also in the net, the " bad " are 
mixed with the "good." As "the field is the world," so 
here "the sea" must be the world. We fail to find a 
converted "net," much less a converted "sea," before 
the Lord returns. The separation occurs not until Christ 
returns to reign upon earth (185). 

374. Prolonged Life. Isaiah says " there shall 



254 THE RETURN SEEN IN SCRIPTURE 



be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man 
that hath not filled his days ; for the child shall die a 
hundred years old, but the sinner a hundred years 
old shall be . accursed ? 1 (Isa. lxv. 20). Fletcher 
affirms that "the godly shall attain unto the years of 
the antediluvian patriarchs, and the wicked shall not 
live out half their days. . . . The very beasts of 
the field will partake of the happiness and glorious 
liberty of the sons of God." 1 This will not be 
realized until Christ returns. 

(a) In Gen. v. 5, 8, 11, 14, 17, 20, 27; ix. 29 we 
find that the average age of the antediluvians mentioned 
was 912 years. Methuselah lacked thirty-one years of 
having lived a millennium. At the age of a hundred 
those men were children. 

(b) Disobedience to the divine commands will not be 
tolerated during the Millennium. Every knee will bow in 
homage, every tongue will utter praise. Although in- 
dividual apostasy will be possible, its duration will be 
short; there will be prompt repentance or speedy de- 
struction. 

(c) Isa. lxv. 20 fixes the period of the Millennium. 
(1) It is not in this dispensation. (2) It is not on the 
" new earth " in which there is "no more sea," < * no more 
death," and " no night" (Rev. xxi. 1, 4, 25). Although 
Isa. lxv. 17 looks beyond the Millennium, verses 18-25 
describe the kingdom age itself. (3) The Millennium, 
thus clearly distinguished, lies between the present king- 
dom-age and the eternal state. 

375. Daniel's Testimony Agrees with that of 
John. In Dan. vii. 13 we see the Son of Man com- 
ing "with the clouds of heaven." The advent is pre- 
millennial and the account agrees with John's narra- 
tive in Rev. xix. 11-21 ; xx. 1-7. 

1 "Works," III, 524. 



VAKIOUS SUBJECTS 255 



Dan. vii. 13 is pre-millennial because at this juncture the 
kingdom has not been taken by the saints. It is now that 
there is " given Him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, 
that all people, nations and languages should serve Him " 
(verse 14). It is now judgment is given to the saints to- 
gether with the kingdom (verse 22) ; and they and their 
kingdom are not above heaven, nor in heaven, but " the 
kingdom and dominion under the whole heaven is given to 
the saints of the most High " (verse 27). 

376. The Destruction of Antichrist. In 2 Thess. 
ii. 1-8 we see the spirit of Antichrist when Paul 
wrote his Epistle. This spirit continues until the 
Lord's return. The Lord will encounter Antichrist 
as a personal being and destroy " that Wicked " with 
the " brightness of His coming" (verse 8). There- 
fore the advent of Christ is pre-millennial. 

(a) " Antichrist the person is to be distinguished from 
the 'many antichrists' (1 John ii. 18), and the 'spirit of 
antichrist ' (1 John iv. 3), which characterizes all. 

. . . The Antichrist is ' the beast out of the earth ' 
(Rev. xiii. n-17)." 1 

(b) "The early Christians looked for Antichrist in a 
person, not in a polity or system." 2 That Antichrist will 
be armed with Satanic powers as a personal bodily being 
was the opinion of Justin Martyr, Irenseus, Tertullian, 
Origen, Hippolytus, Cyprian, Victorinus, Lactantius, Cyril 
of Jerusalem, Jerome, Augustine, Chrysostom, Hilary, 
Ambrose, Theodoret, Gregory of Tours, and numerous 
others. 3 

(c) That this Antichrist is a personal being is seen in 
Rev. xix. 20, where "the beast" with "the false 
prophet " cannot otherwise be consistently interpreted, and 
also in Rev. xx. 10 where in the same category we see the 

1 " Scofield Bible," p. 1342. 3 M, I, 256, 257. 

3 M, I, 256, 257 ; Greswell on the Parables (T, p. 301). Bishop 
W. X. Ninde ("The Life Beyond," Potts, 1899, p. 390), with recent 
authorities, believe Antichrist will be a personal, resurrected being. 



256 THE EETUEN SEEK IN SCEIPTUEE 

" beast," the "false prophet," and the "devil" (376). 
The devil is a personal being (326). 

(d) The Lord's coming in 2 Thess. ii. 8 is His personal 
return. Uapovala (parousia), the word translated " com- 
ing," means perso?ial presence. The Greek word trans- 
lated " brightness " is eruyavtia (epiphaneid), literally, 
appearing. It is used in 1 Tim. vi. 14; 2 Tim. i. 10; iv. 
1, 8, where it refers to the personal coming of Christ. 
The Lord, coming in person, encounters the personal 
Antichrist, "that man of sin," that " son of perdition," 
" that Wicked " (2 Thess. ii. 3, 8 and context). 

377. The Reign of the Saints. In Eev. v. 10 
John beholds redeemed saints in glory ; in heaven. 
In Eev. iv. 4 we see them crowned. Eev. vii. 9-17 ; 
xiv. 1-5 reveal resurrected saints in heaven. Saints 
in heaven, redeemed out of " every tongue, and peo- 
ple and nation" of the earth, exclaim: " We shall 
reign on the earth" (Eev. v. 10). In Eev. xx. 6 we 
have seen that this reign is corporeal, following the 
first resurrection (330-335, 389). Eev. iv. and onward 
is yet future. 

(a) They say not that they have reigned, or that they 
now reign, but "we shall reign o?i the earth. 11 The time 
is future; the place, on earth (Matt. v. 5). 

(b) The call of Rev. iv. 1 "seems clearly to indicate 
the fulfillment of 1 Thess. iv. 14-17. The word 
'church' does not again occur in the Revelation." — 
" Scofteld Bible." 

378. The Command to Watch. In the New 

Testament the thought of the imminent return of 
the Lord has always been a source of great inspira- 
tion to the waiting saints. They are repeatedly 
commanded to watch for the Lord's return. H. C. 
Trumbull declared that he could find nothing in the 
New Testament which would lead him to believe that 



VAEIOTJS SUBJECTS 257 



the Lord will give the world a thousand years' notice 
before His return. 1 As a single instance of the 
divine command to watch, we cite the parable of the 
ten virgins (Matt. xxv. 1-12). After speaking this 
parable the Saviour states the lesson which it teaches. 
This statement, which is explanatory, is not a part of 
the parable. Christ said : 

" Watch, therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the 
hour wherein the Son of Man cometh " (Matt. xxv. 13). 

(a) The command of the Lord requiring the saints 
to watch for His return is irreconcilable with the idea 
that the Millennium shall intervene. However, this 
command is in perfect harmony with the fact that the 
return of Christ will be pre-millennial. 

The Millennium will be characterized negatively by the 
binding of Satan (324-327). This event will not be so 
imperceptible to the tempted saints of God that they will 
not know when it takes place. Positively, the universal 
spread of holiness like waters covering the sea will not be 
an achievement so insignificant that the people of God will 
be unable to discern its glorious reality. If events of such 
definite character, vast importance and long duration were 
to precede the return of Christ, we should have been in- 
structed to watch for them. But we are told (1) that con- 
ditions exactly opposite in nature to those mentioned will 
precede the Lord's return. (2) We are never told to watch 
for the Millennium. (3) We are always commanded to 
watch for the return of the Lord. 

Expect Him every hour. Love His appearing. 

(b) Some have denied that Christ or the Apostles 
ever represented the second advent as imminent. One 
writer 2 gives us a unique illustration : 

1 Replying to a question asked through The Sunday School Times. 

2 J. T. Michael, « Pre-millennialism," N. Y., 1889. 



258 THE KETUBN SEEN IN SCEIPTUEE 



A passenger is waiting for a certain train. He is told 
that his train is imminent. Eighteen trains, far apart, pass 
the station, and the "imminent train" has not arrived. 
Did the station agent tell a falsehood or was the expected 
train imminent when the first arrived ? 

Eighteen centuries pass. The Lord's return is not yet 
seen. Christ could not have so represented His return. 
The event was not imminent. 

The illustration given is open to criticism for 
various reasons. 

(a) Christ and inspired Apostles certainly taught us to 
regard the return of the Lord as ever imminent. 1 

(b) If a certain train on a single track is blocked by 
eighteen or more trains it is physically impossible for the 
last train to reach the station ahead of any of the others, 
but nothing can make it impossible for the Lord to return 
at any time. 

(c) If the Jews as a nation had accepted the suffer- 
ing Christ and embraced the doctrine of the Apostles, how 
long ago might Christ have returned. 

(d) In apostolic days the Gospel had been preached 
to every nation. On the day of Pentecost there were at 
Jerusalem " devout men out of every natio?i under heaven 
(Acts ii. 5); persecution scattered the fire — they "went 
everywhere preaching the word" (Acts viii. 4); "their 
sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the 
ends of the world" (Rom. x. 18), the hope of the Gospel 
being "preached to every creature which is under heaven " 
(Col. i. 23). Are these declarations divine falsehoods? 

(e) The inhabitants of the Western Hemisphere came 
from the East. May they not have heard the Gospel 
before they saw the New World ? (367 f.) 

(c) According to the post-millennial scheme we 
are now much farther from the Millennium than were 
our Fathers 1,900 years ago, and the nearer we ap- 



1 See 4, 18 eg, 30-33, 40, 132, 134, 151, 227, 247, 259, 269 d. 



VAKIOUS SUBJECTS 259 



proach this happy era the farther we are from its 
realization. 

We have cited evidence of the highest authority proving 
that in 1888 there were on earth 200,000,000 more heathen 
than there were a hundred years prior to that date, and 
that the heathen are increasing seventy times more rapidly 
than the Christian converts (24). (See Tares, 372 be.) 

Verily, according to the post-millennial forecast 
the Apostolic Fathers (36, 39-44) saw in the eastern 
skies brighter glimmers of the millennial morning 
than we are able now to discern. But the command 
to watch for the coming of the Lord and the divine 
assurance that He may come at any time is the in- 
spiration and the blessed hope of the saints of God. 

" Hold the fort for I am coming, 
Jesus signals still ; 
Wave the answer back to heaven, 
By Thy grace we will ! " 

— P. P. Bliss. 



SECTION IX.— PEE-MILLEKNIAL JUDGMENT 

SCENES 



XXXVIII.— THE JUDGMENT OF THE SAINTS 
"Judgment must begin at the house of God " (1 Pet. iv. 17). 

We have observed that the resurrection of the 
saints is pre-millennial (328-350). We are now ap- 
proaching the great Day of Judgment which was 
always understood by the Jews to be a long period of 
time. 1 (See also 176, 221, 246, 348.) The Judgment 
will be general ; it will be universal ; all will be 
judged. 

We fix our eyes first upon the judgment of the 
saints. Next in order we shall witness tribulation 
judgment scenes which terminate in the judgment 
of living nations. Then, passing onward, we shall 
see the wicked rise from death and hell to stand in 
the final and universal assemblage of every intelli- 
gence in the whole universe of God. 

THE JUDGMENT OF THE SAINTS 

379. The Saints Caught Up. Quickly and in- 
visibly, unperceived by the world, the Lord will 
come as a thief in the night and catch away His 
waiting saints (Luke xxi. 34-36 ; 2 Pet. iii. 10). 
They will not be taken unawares (1 Thess. v. 4-6), 
but their removal will be a surprise to the world (51). 
The coming of Christ for His saints who meet Him 

1 Joseph Mede, quoted by Seiss, " Last Times," p. 142. 
260 



THE JUDGMENT OF THE SAINTS 261 



in the air marks the commencement of divine prepa- 
rations for the subsequent millennial reign. Some 
time will elapse before He comes with His saints to 
reigu upon earth during the thousand years (51). 
The attraction between Christ and the saints is so 
strong that it would be almost impossible for them 
to remain on earth until He could reach terrestrial 
soil. The Magnet catches up the jewels. 

380. Christ the Magnet. From Europe, Asia and 
America, and the seas that lie between, the needle of every 
compass points to the magnetic pole. Continuous straight 
lines extended from every needle converge at the common 
magnetic pole. So are the hearts of the saints drawn 
towards Christ above. 

Take steel filings and cover them thinly with soil. 
From above, lower a powerful magnet. Quickly every 
particle of steel is caught up and they all cling to the 
magnet ; the soil is left behind. The composition of the 
particles caught up is the same as that which draws them. 
So the holy Saviour, drawing near, catches up the holy 
saints. The impure are left behind. 1 

In 1 Thess. iv. 17 the Greek word ty-ndta* (harpazo), 
which is translated 1 1 caught up," means to snatch 
away. Thus are the saints caught away to Christ in 
the air. 

381. No Condemnation. The blessed and holy 

1 Those whose lamps were burning low when the Bridegroom 
came, will be mightily stirred by the discovery that the " blessed and 
holy " are gone. Great tribulation now awaits them. They witness 
the rise of Antichrist. Many, however, refuse to receive his mark ; 
speak boldly of their faith in Christ; repent with bitter tears; devote 
themselves wholly to righteousness ; suffer martyrdom and receive 
divine mercy. Heathen people of devotion and honesty turn from 
Antichrist. Those denominated "sheep," escaping martyrdom, 
survive as living " nations " and occupy the millennial kingdom, 
having, like the body of Jews, obtained mercy (399, 421), and re- 
ceived " new hearts " and " new spirits " (Ezek. xxxvi. 24-28). 



262 THE EETUEN SEEN IN SCEIPTUEE 



who have part in the first resurrection are standing 
now " before the judgment seat of Christ" (Eom. 
xiv. 10). This judgment is pre- millennial and results 
not in condemnation. With respect to future destiny 
there are only two classes, the righteous and the 
wicked. Every individual is a child of God, or else 
he is not a child of God. 

In this life the righteous are saved " from their sins " 
(Matt. i. 21); are the < < children of God" (Rom. viii. 
16); will not "come into condemnation" (John v. 24); 
are "justified from all things " (Acts xiii. 39) ; their sins 
and iniquities God will remember no more (Heb. viii. 12 ; 
x. 17). Anything that may be regarded as evil cannot be 
so considered in the ordinary sense. Saints are pardoned 
from guilt and cleansed from inbred corruption when they 
depart to be with Christ. They are " blessed and holy " 
(Rev. xx. 6). 

We have seen the righteous die in holy triumph. We 
have heard them exclaim, " I am ready for the judgment." 
The Church appears in pure, clean, white robes. The 
Bridegroom greets her with divine approval. She is holy, 
as He is holy. Without holiness, " no man shall see the 
Lord" (Heb. xii. 14) (425). 

There are many reasons why the saints will appear 
before the judgment seat of Christ. 

382. Vindication. This world is no friend of 
grace. The seed of the serpent is against the saints. 
After a shameful mock trial this world condemned 
Jesus Christ to be crucified with an utterance from 
the lips of the judge declaring that no real evidence 
could be found against Him. The early saints, ad- 
judged as heretics, together with millions who 
perished during the Dark Ages, departed this life as 
martyrs and deserve a better judgment. Stephen 
was stoned to death (Acts vii. 58). Going after Paul 



THE JUDGMENT OF THE SAINTS 263 



they cry, " Away with such a fellow from the earth, 
for it is not fit that he should live 7 ' (Acts xxii. 22). 

Saints have been regarded as the "filth" and "off- 
scouring" of the world (i Cor. iv. 12, 13). Paul de- 
clares that " all who will live godly in Christ Jesus shall 
suffer persecution" (2 Tim. iii. 12). The saints of God 
are " not of the world " and therefore the " world hateth " 
them (John xv. 19). Paul, before Agrippa, stood and was 
judged (Acts xxvi. 6). " Lord, how long shall the wicked 
triumph ? " (Psa. xciv. 3). 

Saints deserve a better judgment. They shall have it, 
but not in the courts of this world (i56d). 

383. Reward. At the judgment seat of Christ the 
saints receive their reward. Some will have little re- 
ward ; others, a great reward. 66 Every man's work 
shall be made manifest" (1 Cor. iii. 13). Some will 
be " saved as by fire" (1 Cor. iii. 15) while others 
will have an abundant entrance. 

The parable of the talents (Matt. xxv. 14-30) and the 
parable of the pounds (Luke xix. n-27) illustrate the fact 
that rewards vary according to works. Penalties vary 
(Luke xii. 46-48). 

The unworthy are not present in the judgment 
scene before us. False prophets are not here. Some 
who never were prophets will "receive a prophet's re- 
ward " (Matt. x. 41). As we sow and water, so shall we 
reap (Gal. vi. 8). The widow who threw in " two mites " 
(Mark xii. 42) receives a great reward ; motives are con- 
sidered together with the measure of ability. 

Here and now the wicked " have their reward" (Matt, 
vi. 2), but that of the saints is received " at the resurrec- 
tion of the just " (Luke xiv. 14). Eternal life is the free 
and unmerited gift of God, and yet " every man will be 
rewarded according to his works " (Matt. xvi. 27). 

384. Assignments. At the judgment seat of Christ 
the saints will be assigned to their places in the mil- 



264 THE BETUKN SEEN IN SCEIPTUEE 



lennial kingdom. A good and wise king is judicious 
and discriminating in his selections and assignments. 
In the coming kingdom some will be the least and 
others the greatest. They differ " as one star dif- 
fereth from another star in glory " (1 Cor. xv. 41). 
Christ is the Judge and He makes the assignments. 

385. Judicial Duties. The saints are to sit with 
Christ in subsequent judicial administrations during 
the Millennium. " Do ye not know that the saints 
shall judge the world ! " (1 Cor. vi. 2). Haviug been 
commissioned by Christ they now participate with 
Him in the judgment of the world. 

John heard redeemed, resurrected and glorified saints 
exclaiming, " We shall reign on the earth " (Rev. v. 10). 
(See 377.) Later, he " saw thrones, and they sat upon 
them, and judgment was given unto them, . . . and 
they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years " 
(Rev. xx. 4). "Judge nothing before the time, until the 
Lord comes " (1 Cor. iv. 15 ; Matt. vii. 1). The reign of 
the saints with Christ in kingdom judgment clearly implies 
previous adjudication in order to invest them with divine 
prerogatives. 

Read Psa. cxlix. 6-9 ; Matt. xix. 28 ; 1 Cor. vi. 3 ; 
Rev. ii. 26, 27 ; iii. 21. 

386. Witnesses against the Wicked. The right- 
eous will appear in the final judgment against the 
wicked who repented not when mercy was extended. 
The "men of Nineveh" and "the queen of the 
south " will rise up against the wicked (Matt. xii. 
41, 42). Wesley says: "The saints, after being 
judged themselves, shall be assessors with Christ in 
the judgment wherein He shall condemn all the 
wicked, as well angels as men " 1 (431). 



1 Quoted by Field, « Theology," p. 279, from Wesley's « Notes." 



PEE-MILLENNIAL JUDGMENT 265 



XXXIX.— THE JUDGMENT OF THOSE WHO ARE 
LEFT BEHIND 

" Where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? " (1 Pet. iv, 18). 

387. The Missing Saints. The saints are gone. 
Bright lights are missing (Matt. v. 14). Woe unto 
the world. It never knew the value of the saints till 
they were gone. Now their places are vacant j their 
prayers cease to disturb ; their rejoicings are heard 
no more. 

388. The Great Tribulation. Moral corruption 
is rapid in its progress. The " salt of the earth" is 
gone (Matt. v. 13). Sodom of old was destroyed be- 
cause ten righteous men could not be found in the 
city (Gen. xviii. 32). The catching away of the 
saints portends a time of trouble to those who are 
left behind. " There will be a time of trouble such 
as never was since there was a nation even to that 
same time' 7 (Dan. xii. 1). The Old Testament 
prophets make the great tribulation precede the 
latter day glory. With deathly pallor men travail 
in pain in the " day of Jacob's trouble " (Jer. xxx. 
4-7) (51c). 

Christ foretells this time of tribulation in Matt. xxiv. 
21, 22 ; Mark xiii. 14-20. He foretells (1) the destruc- 
tion of the temple and the city of Jerusalem ; (2) the sign 
of His coming and the end of the age (Matt. xxiv. 3). 
He speaks of the impending destruction of Jerusalem 
in a. d. 70 and of the great tribulation at the end of this 
age. Both Matthew and Mark are very specific in ex- 
plaining that immediately after this last period of tribula- 
tion Christ returns visibly "in the clouds of heaven with 
power and great glory" (Matt. xxiv. 29, 30; Mark xiii. 
24-26). These passages are parallel with Matt. xxv. 31 
(39o). 



266 THE EETUEN SEEK IN SCEIPTUEE 



389. The Mighty Conflict. Antichrist appears 
(376). To him Satan gives the power which he 
offered to Christ (Matt. iv. 8, 9 ; Kev. xiii. 4). He 
becomes imperious. Tyranny prevails. Multitudes 
who refuse to offer homage meet death by martyrdom. 
The earth is filled with violence. Heaven is defied. 
Christ returns with all the holy angels (Matt. xxv. 
31-46) and with "ten thousands {^vp ids, murias, 
myriad) of His saints to execute judgment upon all " 
(Jude 14, 15). The conquering King with the 
allied forces of high heaven and ransomed earth will 
destroy Antichrist and his confederated hosts with a 
brightness surpassing that beheld by Saul of Tarsus 
on the way to Damascus (Acts xxvi. 13), and with 
smitings of vengeance immeasurably greater than the 
strokes of the destroying angel when the midnight 
cry resounded through the land of Egypt (Ex. xii. 30), 
and with a victory more decisive than that of Gideon 
and his three hundred when they fell upon the camp 
of the Midianites (Judg. vii. 19-22). 

This conflict is described in the vivid lines of Isa. xxiv. 
20, 23; xxvi. 20, 21 j xxxiv. 1, 2; lxiii. 1-6; lxvi. 
15, 16; Jer. xxv. 30-33; Joel ii. 11; iii. 2, 11-13; 
Zeph. iii. 8 ; Zech. xii. 8-10 ; xiv. 3 ; Matt. xxiv. 27-30 ; 
Rev. xiv. 14-20; xvi. 14-16; xix. 11—21, and with more 
or less directness in various other places. Note the close 
connection between Joel iii. 2, 12, 13; Matt. xiii. 41-43; 
xxv. 31-42 ; 2 Thess. i. 5-10. John Fletcher calls 
2 Thess. i. 5-10 "the great tribulation of the wicked," 
and observes that it "shall make way for Messiah's 
glorious kingdom." 1 This conflict is called the battle of 
Armageddon (Rev. xvi. 16). 2 It culminates in Matt. xxv. 
31-46. 



1 "Works," III, 542. 2 " Scofield Bible," pp. 1348, 1349. 



PBE-MILLEOTIAL JUDGMENT 267 



390. The Separation of the Assembled Nations. 
The mighty conflict terminates in the judgment of 
the living nations. 

(a) " When the Son of Man shall come in His glory, 
and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon 
the throne of His glory ; and before Him shall be gathered 
all nations, and He shall separate them one from another 
as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats " (Matt, 
xxv. 31, 32). 

The righteous " inherit the kingdom" and the wicked 
are cast into everlasting fire (402). 

(b) This separation is a regeneration of the social 
order like that of an individual who is " born again" 
(John iii. 3). "In the regeneration when the Son of Man 
shall sit on the throne of His glory," Peter and others who 
followed Christ "also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judg- 
ing the twelve tribes of Israel" (Matt. xix. 27, 28), ac- 
cording to the promise in Isa. i. 26. See Judges ii. 18. 
Compare Tzahyyzv&ala (paliggenesid), rendered regenera- 
tion, in Matt. xix. 28 and Titus iii. 5, the only places 
where this word is found. 

391. Authorities Make Matthew xxv. 31-46 Pre- 
Millennial. Instead of entering upon an unexplored 
region we are returning to the old paths which our 
fathers trod when we view the judgment of Matt. xxv. 
31-46 in pre-millennial light. 

(a) The early Church. That judgment introduces 
the Millennium was the faith of Barnabas (39) ; Irenaeus 
(51) ; Tertullian (El. IV, 242) 1 and the Montanists (59) ; 
Hippolytus (El. IV, 285) ; Victorinus (El. IV, 294) ; Com- 
modianus (55); Lactantius (56); the Waldenses (106); 
Paulicians (108); Cathari (112); Savonarola (130) and 
the harbingers of the Reformation ; and the early Re- 
formers. (See also 53, foot-notes.) 

(b) Later authorities. A whole chapter might be 



1 Elliott, " Korae Apocalypticas." 



268 THE EETUEN SEEN IN SCEIPTUEE 



devoted to the mere enumeration of modern writers who 
make Matt. xxv. 31-46 the decisive act which consumes 
Antichrist, destroys the wicked, delivers the righteous re- 
maining and introduces the millennial kingdom. 1 

THE SCRIPTURES MAKE MATT. XXV. 31-46 P&E- 
MILLENNTAL 

Millions of human beings are living. Millions wor- 
ship Antichrist and rise in rebellion against God. 
Men are not regenerated by force nor converted into 
saints against their will. Therefore the wicked must 
be destroyed. 

392. The Olivet Discourse. Matt. xxv. 31-46 is 
the conclusion of the Saviour's Olivet discourse which 
begins with the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew 
and traces the course of this dispensation from the 
destruction of the temple to the return of Christ. No 
Millennium intervenes but opposite conditions pre- 
vail. 

393. Holy Angels attend the return of the Lord 
as seen in Matt. xiii. 41, 49, 2 Thess. i. 7 and Matt. 

1 In the following list arranged alphabetically are appended the 
names of a few persons among many who make this judgment pre- 
millennial : 

Adventists, General Conference, Albany, N. Y., 1845 (T> P- 362). 
Alford, Dean (" Crit. Doct. Horn. Com.," N. Y., 1867, Matt., p, 

449) ; Jamieson, Fausset and Brown (" Com." on text, p. 59). 
Blackstone, W. E. (" Jesus is Coming," 1908, p. 104). 
Bonar, H. ("Coming and Kingdom," etc., 1849, P* l0 5)- 
Duffield, George (" Prophecies," p. 324). (See also 18.) 
Elliott, E. B. (" Hone Apoc," IV, 191). 

Evans, Wra. (" Great Doctrines of the Bible," 191 2, pp. 239, 240). 
Fletcher, John (« Works," III, 535, 542). 
Gray, J. M. ("Synthetic Bible Studies," p. no). 
Griffith, G. W. {Free Methodist, 1896, XXXIX, 354). 
Haldeman, I. M. (" The Coming of Christ," 1906, p. 214). 
Kellogg, S. H. (" Biblio. Sacra," XLV, 249). 
Maura, Philip (" Man's Day," p. 196 ; " Number of Man," p. 349} 
Moorehead, W. G. (" The Fundamentals," VII, 122). 



PEE- MILLENNIAL JUDGMENT 269 



xxv. 31, which speak of the same event. These 
Scriptures synchronize, and are pre-millennial. 

Tares remain with the wheat ; the bad remain with the 
good in the net, and abound in the sea; persecution, 
tribulation and suffering (2 Thess. i. 4-6) cease not until 
the Lord returns. 

394. Clarke's Admission. Matt. xvi. 27 declares 
that " the Son of Man shall come in the glory of His 
Father with His angels, and then He shall reward 
every man according to his works.'' Adam Clarke 
says, "It is very likely that the words do not apply 
to the final judgment.'' 1 But Matt. xvi. 27 is surely 
parallel with Matt. xxv. 31. 

395. The Prophet Joel's Account. The judgment 
of Matt. xxv. 31-46 is seen in Joel iii. 1-18. Adam 
Clarke observes that "the prophecy in this chapter 
is thought by some to relate to the latter times of the 
world, when God shall finally deliver His people 
from their adversaries," and admits that it is "im- 
possible to restrain the whole of their import to any 
events prior to the commencement of the Christian 
era " 2 (366 k). Let us examine Joel iii. 1-18. 

We see Christ " gather all nations . . . into the val- 

Munhall, L. W. (Luth. Quar., XXVI, 18). 

Olshausen (Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, " Com., Matt," p. 59). 

Parlane, W. A. (" Elements of Dispen. Truth," 1905, pp. 46-53). 

Peters, G. N. H. (" Theocratic Kingdom," 3 volumes). 

Poiret, Peter (156), and the Mystics generally. 

Prophetic Conference, " Report," 1878, p. 252. 

«« Scofield Bible " staff. Stier (See Alford references). 

Seiss, J. A. (" Apoc," III, 42; " Last Times," p. 164). 

Simpson, A. B. (•« Gospel of the Kingdom," 1890, p. 227). 

Sims, A. (" God's Wonderful Dealings with Man," p. 45). 

Torrey, R. A. (" What the Bible Teaches," 1898, p. 211). 

Usher, Archbishop (Taylor, " Voice," p. 173). Etc., etc. 

1 " Com." on text. 2 Ibid., Intro, to Joel iii. 



270 THE RETURN SEEN IN SCRIPTURE 



ley of Jehoshaphat " (the name means Jehovah is Judge) 
(verse 2, with 363). The " men of war draw near," and 
" come up " (verse 9). All the heathen assemble, and " thy 
mighty ones (angels) come down" (verse 11); "there 
will I sit to judge all the heathen round about " (verse 
12). Wickedness is great; sickles are thrust; "the 
harvest is ripe " (verse 13). Nature is convulsed and her 
luminaries veiled (verses 15, 16) as they were when the 
Lord was crucified (Matt, xxvii. 45, 51). 

The Lord speaks in specific terms of "my people," and 
" my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the 
nations " (verse 2). But the Lord is " the strength of the 
children of Israel " (verse 16). The Jews are restored and 
their city is holy, and nature is lavish in the bestowment of 
her blessings (verses 17, 18), 

Joel iii. 1 -1 8 and Matt. xxv. 31-46 describe the events, 
which are pre-millennial (363-366). 

396. Distinguished From the Final Judgment. 

The pre- millennial judgment, seen in Matt. xxv. 31- 
46, is not to be confused with that of Rev. xx. 11-13. 
These judgments have little, if anything, in common. 
They are entirely distinct acts. (See 420.) 

(a) In Matt. xxv. 31-46 the subjects of judgment are 
living nations on earth ; people who have never died. In 
Rev. xx. n-13 the dead who have been resurrected are 
seen out in space, the earth having fled away. 

(b) In the first judgment separation is made and sen- 
tence pronounced before cause is shown, and the cause 
shown is limited to a certain kind of sins of omission. All 
this is in striking contrast with the final judgment. 
(1) In the first judgment the wicked who are accursed 
and consigned to " everlasting fire " (verse 41) share the 
fate of the Sodomites who suffer " the vengeance of eternal 
fire " (Jude 7). They share the fate of two hundred and 
fifty sinners who were consumed in flames when, in 
Moses' time, the earth opened her mouth and swallowed 
them up, sending them quickly into the pit (Numb. xvi. 



PKE-MILLENNIAL JUDGMENT 271 



31-35). These will be resurrected for the final judgment 
together with those who perish in the act of Matt. xxv. 
31-46. (2) In Rev. xx. 11-13 there is a very thorough 
judicial investigation, reviewing every deed of commission 
as well as of omission ; cause is shown ; judgment is final ; 
the lake of fire is entered forever (426). 

(c) " It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this 
the judgment" (Heb. ix. 27). It has been thousands of 
years since the antediluvians, the Sodomites and the hosts 
of Pharaoh died. They were suddenly destroyed (Prov. 
xxix. 1) by divine judgment ; nevertheless, " after this the 
judgment " ! 

397. "All Nations." " Before him shall be 
gathered all nations " (Matt. xxv. 32). By the " na- 
tions " is meant the Gentiles. Nationally, the Scrip- 
tures divide the human family into two races, the Jews 
and the Gentiles. Originally the Jews were the people 
of God and the Gentiles were aliens. As to spiritual 
privileges Christ abolished this distinction, but only 
in a sense similar to the abolition of " white" and 
" black " relative to American servitude, or " male " 
and " female 7 7 relative to suffrage in certain locali- 
ties, or English and German relative to citizenship 
in the kingdom of God. Neither colour, nor sex, 
nor nationality is any less literal, notwithstanding a 
common heritage. 

The Greek word Zdvos (ethnos), translated " nations," 
is rendered " Gentiles " in ninety-three places in the New 
Testament. " Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the 
Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled" 
(Luke xxi. 24). One hundred years ago (18 14) Adam 
Clarke, commenting on this last text, wrote : " The na- 
tions are still treading down Jerusalem, and the end is 
known only to the Lord." 

In every respect the Jews now remain as a people dis- 
tinct from the Gentiles (363). 



272 THE EETUEN SEEN IN SCEIPTUEE 



398. " Sheep and Goats." These words are 
metaphors. It is not sheep and goats that are sepa- 
rated, but people are separated "as a shepherd di- 
videth his sheep from the goats " (verse 32). The 
Jews, too, are represented as a scattered flock of 
sheep. Parallel passages make Matt. xxv. 32 pre- 
millennial. See Bible references on verse 31. John 
Fletcher identifies Ezekiel xxxiv. 11-17 with Matthew 
xxv. 32. 1 Eead Jeremiah iii. 14 ; xxiii. 6 ; Zecha- 
riah x. 3, 6-10 (399). 

399. " My Brethren." The " sheep" and the 
"goats 7 (Matt, xxv.) of verses 32, 33 are distin- 
guished from a class whom Christ calls " my breth- 
ren 7 ' (verse 40). Both the reward given and the 
punishment inflicted are based upon the treatment 
of His 4 'brethren." Who are these ''brethren"? 
They are Jews. 

(a) There is something tender and very significant in 
the Saviour's utterance, "my brethren." In the Old 
Testament the term "brethren" always means family or 
national relationship. In the New Testament the Greek 
word &dsX(poi (adelphoi}, rendered " brethren," is the 
plural form of adeXyos (adelphos) which means, literally, 
"of the same womb, a brother, relative." 2 This word is 
used in Matt. xxv. 40. Christ, the Jew, is speaking of 
His brethren, the Jews ; in contrast with the Gentiles 
(397) who are assembled before Him. The veil is lifted 
from the face of the Jews; they repent and, as a people, 
are converted. They are terribly persecuted by Gentile 
devotees to Antichrist ; other Gentiles aid and defend 
them. Even at this time the Jews "dwell alone" and 
are "not reckoned among the nations " (Numb, xxiii. 9). 

(b) Professor W. C. Allen, lecturer on theology and 
Hebrew, Exeter College, England, makes this statement 



1 " Works," III, 535. 2 Young, " Concordance," p. 124. 



PEE-MILLENNIAL JUDGMENT 273 



on Matt. xxv. 32, concerning the "nations": "The Gen- 
tiles are judged by the standard of their conduct to Jewish 
Christians." 1 

(c) Christ came "unto His own" (John i. n), the 
Jews, who rejected and crucified Him ; they in turn have 
been trodden down for 1,900 years; they will come and 
beg for mercy and their Kinsman to them will be revealed. 
Although Christ knows no man after the flesh, yet His 
great heart will be moved when His own come back again. 
As Joseph, cruelly rejected by his brethren (Gen. xxxvii. 
19, 20, 28), afterwards looks upon their distress with 
merciful recognition from the throne of Egypt (Gen. xli. 
41-44; xlii. 6, 7; xlv. 1, 2), so will Jesus of Nazareth 
from the throne of His glory look again with compassion 
upon His "own " and rejoice that in their extremity He 
may gather them back again (365). 

(d) Adam Clarke on Zech. x. 10 makes this statement : 
" If all the Jews that are now scattered over the face of the 
earth were gathered together, they would make a mighty 
nation. And God will gather them together. As a won- 
derful Providence has preserved them in every place, so a 
wonderful Providence will collect them from every place 
of their dispersion. When the great call comes, not a soul 
of them shall be left behind." 2 (See 365.) Read Joel 
iii. 2 (214). 

400. " The Kingdom Prepared from the Foun- 
dation of the World ' ' is that which the righteous 
inherit as seen in Matt. xxv. 34. It is the seventh 
thousand years (39, 51, 56), the Sabbatic rest (357), 
the Millennium. The treatment accorded the Lord's 
brethren in verses 35-39 is the reason assigned for 
the bestowment of this reward. This inheritance 
cannot be post-millennial because hunger, thirst, 
poverty, nakedness and imprisonment have just been 
observed as features preceding this judgment. This 

1 « New Internat'l Crit. Com., Matt.," 1907, p. 265. 
2 « Com., O. T.," IV, 513. 



274 THE EETUEN SEEN IN SCEIPTUEE 



has been the portion of the brethren of Christ. This 
situation is exactly opposite to that of a Millennium. 
The kingdom, long awaited, now appears. 

(a) The kingdom is "prepared (iroifid^io, hetoimazo, 
was made ready) from (drd, apo, out of) the foundation 
(kaxafiolr}, katabole, laying down, founding) of the (#007x09, 
kosmos, arrangeme?it, beauty) world." In other words, 
the garden of Eden at the creation of Adam was a literal 
paradise for the permanent abode of primitive man. Pre- 
pared at that time, it was forfeited by sin ; man was driven 
from its enjoyment; the ground was cursed, thorns and 
thistles appeared ; by the sweat of his brow man toiled for 
his bread (Gen. iii. 17-19). Now the curse is lifted from 
the soil, thorns and thistles disappear, laborious duties are 
at an end ; the earth brings forth abundantly. " Come, 
ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for 
you from the foundation of the world " (Matt. xxv. 34). 

(b) Will glorified saints partake of literal kingdom 
fruitage? May we ask, Will resurrected saints be less 
literal than angels, who are spirits ? Twice in succession 
an angel touched and awakened Elijah under the juniper 
tree, and this angel talked to Elijah, saying, "Arise, and 
eat, for the journey is too great for thee" (1 Kings xix. 
4-8). Two angels appear to Lot in Sodom (Gen. xix. 
1-16); they stand, speak, walk, touch, handle, smite with 
blindness, and eat bread prepared by Lot (verse 3). These 
same angels were entertained by Abraham, at which time 
they ate "butter 11 and meat, and drank "milk 11 (Gen. 
xviii. 8) ; they promised Isaac when Sarah was old 
(Gen. xviii. 9-15) ; then they went to Sodom (verses 
20-22). 1 This was after the fall of man. What will the 
coming kingdom be? Papias believed Christ (44). 

(c) The laying of the world's foundation is seen as a 
fact in Job xxxviii. 4; Psa. cii. 25 ; Isa. xlviii. 13; li. 
13, 16; Zech. xii. 1. The time is contemporary with 
Adam (Luke xi. 50; Heb. iv. 3). 

1 These angels appear as men. The Biblical revelation of angels 
is masculine. See notes by Adam Clarke. 



PEE-MILLENOTAL JUDGMENT 275 



(d) The Millennium is a special dispensation ; a 
restoration (370, 371); a partial renovation of the earth 
(197) ; but it is distinct from the eternal state on the new 
earth after the final judgment. After the Millennium, 
"then cometh the end" (1 Cor. xv. 24). 1 Archbishop 
Robertson, of Exeter, and Alfred Plummer, master of 
University College, Durham, prepared the " International 
Critical Commentary "on 1 Corinthians. From that work 
we copy this note on 1 Cor. xv. 24 : " Sovereignty has 
been committed to the Son for a definite purpose ; when 
this purpose has been fulfilled, the sovereignty returns to 
the original source. We need not think of Christ as losing 
anything or as ceasing to rule, but as bringing to a trium- 
phant close a special dispensation." 2 

(e) The devil offered Christ " all the kingdoms of the 
world " (Matt. iv. 8). Antichrist eventually became the 
head of Gentile world-power (376). The saints have al- 
ways prayed, " Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in 
earth as it is in heaven " (Matt. vi. 10). "Thine is the 
kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen " 
(Matt. vi. 13). Christ sits on the throne of His glory. 

SOME SCATTERING SCRIPTURES THROWING LIGHT ON 
PRE -MILLENNIAL, JUDGMENT SCENES 

401. "The End of the World." This expression 
signifies neither the end of mortality nor the end of 
the earth. (See 349, 372, 373.) It is found in Matt, 
xiii. 39, 40, 49 where it means the end of the present 
dispensation or age. The Millennium is a subsequent 
and "special dispensation " (400d). This " world" 
(aia>v t aion, dispensation) ends with the Lord's return. 

402. The Consuming Fire. The casting of the 
wicked into a furnace of fire (Matt. xiii. 42 with 
xxv. 41, 46) and the visitation of " flaming fire tak- 
ing vengeance on them that know not God " (2 Thess. 

1 See 344. 2 Page 355 of volume mentioned. 



276 THE EETUEN SEEN IN SCEIPTUEE 



i. 8, 9), is pre-millennial. It is not the end of the 
cosmic world. 

(a) God can destroy the wicked without injury to the 
righteous. The righteous were uninjured when Sodom was 
consumed (Gen. xix.) ; nature was untouched when the 
bush seen by Moses was enveloped in flames (Ex. iii. 2) ; 
only the wicked suffered when Korah, Dathan and Abiram 
and a host of others were devoured (Numb. xxvi. 9, 10) ; 
no further injury was done when Elijah called fire from 
heaven twice in succession, destroying two bodies march- 
ing against him each of which was composed of fifty men 
(2 Kings i. 10-12). The flames of a furnace fire speedily 
destroyed wicked men who stood too close to the door, 
but the saints of God in the midst of that fire came forth 
with bodies unharmed and garments unsinged (Dan. iii. 
21-27). The Lord God of Moses, Elijah and Daniel 
liveth still, and when He returns to destroy the wicked He 
will deliver the righteous, shake iniquity from the earth 
and restore the natural world to primitive excellence. 

(b) 2 Peter iii. 10 proclaims the fact that " the day of 
the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which 
the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the 
elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and 
the works that are therein shall be burned up." Note the 
following points : 

(1) " The day of the Lord " is a period which em- 
braces the Millennium (348). 

(2) Peter's account has been regarded as distributive, 
comprising in its scope the beginning and the ending of 
the latter day. " In the day that the Lord God made the 
earth and the heavens " (Gen. ii. 4) we see a long age 
anterior to what is distinguished as the " first day " in the 
subsequent order of creation. We are viewing now the 
sabbatic day of a thousand years with the natural phe- 
nomena preceding and following the Millennium. 

(3) The final and complete purgation which is fol- 
lowed by the new earth created from the elements of the 
old (420) is the primary thought in 2 Pet. iii. 10-13. 

(4) The final catastrophe is an event seen "in" the 



PKE-MILLEOTIAL JUDGMENT 277 



day of the Lord. It is not a continuous conflagration 
during the day of the Lord, as some erroneously infer. 

(5) " The day of the Lord will come' 1 ^timo (heko), 
translated "will come," means to have come; be here. 
The " day of the Lord " will have come, will actually 
have been realized. Its sun will set with the final con- 
flagration. Illustration. — Summer will have come in 
which the leaves shall fade. 

Thunderbolts of divine wrath purify the air early in the 
morning of the Latter Day. After a thousand years the 
pit is unsealed and the odours of perdition ascend. The 
sun goes down ; the saints are removed ; the bodies of the 
wicked are taken; the white throne appears; a fire dis- 
solves the elements (430). 

403. The Judgment of " the Quick and the 
Dead." In 2 Tim. iv. 1 we see that Christ will 
" judge the quick and the dead at His appearing and 
His kingdom." Does not this mean the final and 
universal judgment ? Let us inquire. 

Christ appears with the appearing of His king- 
dom. u Quick and dead " means living and dead. 
The righteous dead, resurrected before the kingdom 
appears, are judged (379-386). The living nations 
are judged before the Millennium is established. 
The wicked dead are neither resurrected nor judged 
until after the Millennium. 

Post-millenarians emphasize the word "at," in the 
phrase his appearing." They assume that all man- 
kind will be finally judged " at His appearing." Kara 
(kata) is the Greek word here rendered "at," and in no 
other place in the New Testament is it translated by the 
use of this word. In fifty-nine places it is translated 
" after " ; in twenty-five places, "by." This last word is 
used in the Revised Version. Exegetically, the whole 
weight of evidence is against the post-millennial interpre- 
tation. The pre-millennial judgment is at the time of the 



278 THE RETURN SEEN IN SCRIPTURE 



Lord's appearing ; the theocratic judgment during the 
millennial day is by His presence and His kingdom ; the 
final judgment is after His kingdom. Distinguish the 
dispensations and the Scriptures harmonize. 

404. " Every Eye " Sees Him Come. In Rev. 
i. 7 we read : " Behold, He cometh with clouds ; and 
every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced 
Him ; and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because 
of Him.' ' At this time the wicked have not been res- 
urrected. The living, unprepared to meet Christ, 
wail when He appears. 

They that " pierced Him " died long, long ago. If not 
resurrected, how can they see Him now ? To the con- 
sideration of this matter we direct attention. 

(a) To those who believe that this is an allusion to the 
men who actually drove the spikes and thrust the spear 
when our Lord was crucified, we point to the thousands 
who were converted on the day of Pentecost within two 
months from the time the Saviour died. Peter preached 
to men who dwelt in Jerusalem, to men who by " wicked 
hands have crucified and slain " the Lord, to men who re- 
pented and were baptized and saved to the number of 
" three thousand " (Acts ii. 14, 23, 37, 41). Jesus 
prayed for those who drove the nails, declaring that in 
their blindness they knew not what they were doing 
(Luke xxiii. 34). Saul the murderer became Paul the 
Apostle. The very men who pierced the Lord, if con- 
verted, were resurrected at the time of His return. 

It is said that " all kindreds of the earth shall wail be- 
cause of Him." Wicked people then living shall wail. 
Analysis fails to prove that the men who pierced Him are 
included with the kindreds that wail when He comes. 

(b) Although the above exposition explains the text to 
the satisfaction of those who believe the actual persons 
who drove the spikes are designated, another view of this 
passage of Scripture seems to elucidate the meaning which 
the inspired Apostle meant to convey. 

This text is a reiteration of Zech. xii. 10, where we see 



PKE-MILLENNIAL JUDGMENT 279 



the revelation of Christ to the " house of David " and the 
" inhabitants of Jerusalem." They "shall look upon Me 
whom they have pierced," and they shall "mourn " and 
"be in bitterness " (Zech. xii. 10). These are not resur- 
rected persons ; they are the remnant of the Jewish race 
living at the time of the Lord's return ; they are the chil- 
dren of those who said, " His blood be on us, and on our 
children" (Matt, xxvii. 25); they are the yeved (genea), 
the stock, race (338a), who pierced the Messiah; their 
repentance is bitter, deep and genuine (Zech. xii. 11, 12); 
the 1 ' spirit of grace and supplication " is promised (verse 
10) ; a fountain is open for sin and uncleanness (Zech. 
xiii. 1) ; in the sequel we see the great tribulation, fearful 
persecution, Christ standing on the Mount of Olives and 
the millennial kingdom set up (Zech. xiii. and xiv). 

"In that day" (Zech. xii. 3, 4, 6, 8, 9) the Lord 
" will seek to destroy all the nations that come against 
Jerusalem" (Zech. xii. 9). Thus shall "all kindreds" 
wail when He returns. 

405. The Prophecy of Zechariah. Since Zecha- 
riah, chapters twelve to fourteen, has been introduced 
in our discussion of the previous subject, it may be 
well to note the post-millennial objection to its ac- 
ceptance as language to be understood in a literal 
sense. We have noted Steele's objection (315d), af- 
firming that Zech. xiv. is " entirely literal or entirely 
symbolical." With this thought in mind we open 
the " Cambridge Bible," selecting the volume on 
Zechariah, written by Archbishop T. T. Perowne, 
and here we rind that he interprets the fourteenth 
chapter of this prophecy as language strictly literal 
in meaning. Now if Perowne is correct in making 
any part of this chapter literal, then Steele concedes 
that the archbishop is correct in making the whole 
chapter " entirely literal." The plain teaching, 
therefore, is pre-millennial. 



280 THE KETUKN SEEN IN SCRIPTUEE 



(a) We quote a sentence from Perowne's notes : " ' In 
that day ' (Zech. xiii. i) — the day, or period, so often 
mentioned before (xii. 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11), in which this 
whole prophecy shall be fulfilled." 1 

(b) The attempt to make Zech. xiv. 2 a prophecy of 
the destruction of Jerusalem is futile. Even Bishop 
Merrill (post) concedes that " this can hardly apply to the 
capture by Titus, for he did not leave half the city. 
. . . Besides, this says nothing about the destruction 
of the city. It only speaks of taking half the people cap- 
tives." 2 The passage describes shocking and shameful 
abuse of the Jews by the nations assembled. Need we 
wonder at the return of Christ and the heavy strokes of 
divine vengeance ? " Vengeance is mine; I will repay, 
saith the Lord " (Rom. xii. 19). Heaven save us from 
the carnage of that day. 

Now we rest. Our observations will be resumed at 
the end of the thousand years of Holiness unto the 
Lord (Zech. xiv. 20). 

XL.— DOWN IN HADES 
" In hell he lift up his eyes " (Luke xvi. 23). 

406. Retrospect and Prospect. We have stood 
amid the awful realities of pre-millennial judgment 
scenes. Nature trembled with greater violence than 
when the Lord was crucified. The sea roared and 
the heavens were tempestuous. The chaff blew away 
and the tares were consumed. A conquering King 
was on the scene, the very Christ who stilled the 
tempest on the Sea of Galilee. We saw the storm 
abate and the light of the Millennium shine. Tor- 
nadoes ceased to blow ; floods were known no more ; 
climate was ideal ; no sweat appeared on mortal 

1 " Cam. Bible," Zech. xiii. 1. 2 " Second Coming," p. 131. 



DOWN IN HADES 



281 



brow ; vegetation, freed from drought and pest and 
blight, was lavish with her luscious fruit ; no mother 
ever worried lest a serpent sting her child ; lion and 
lamb lay down together ; the whole creation rejoiced 
in the glorious liberty of the children of God. Holi- 
ness unto the Lord was universal. 

The Millennium, however, is not our theme. We 
write of the Lord's return. It becomes our painful 
duty now to descend where the wicked dwell. Hell 
is the dark abode of all who shall rise to condemna- 
tion at the end of the thousand years. The nature of 
this abode and the character of those who have their 
portion here, is the subject to which we now direct 
our attention. Down this broad descent vast multi- 
tudes have gone. Where are we ? Whom do we see f 

407. Hell is the Abode of the Wicked. Accord- 
iDg to mythology hell seems not to have been re- 
garded as a happy place. The voice of mythology 
cannot be heard as important evidence, but it has 
some value as an expression of ancient thought. 
Learned opinions may be quoted in support of the 
assertion that the righteous are not in any part of 
hades. The conclusion of the whole matter lies in a 
correct aDalysis of this subject as seen in the Scrip- 
tures. May the Holy Spirit aid us in our attempt to 
ascertain the truth. 

The word hell occurs in the Bible fifty-four times. We 
find it in the Old Testament in thirty-one places ; in the 
New it appears in twenty-three places. 

In the Old Testament " hell " is translated from the 
Hebrew sheol, but this word sheol, occurring sixty- 

five times, is translated " grave " in thirty-one places, and 
" pit " in three places. (See 410.) 



282 THE KETUKN SEEN IN SCEIPTUEE 



In the New Testament the Greek a&js (hades), translated 
" hell," is found in ten places and designates an abode of 
spirits. The Greek yiewa (geenna), 1 rendered " hell " 
in nine places, and " hell fire " in three places, signifies a 
spiritual realm. Taprapocu (tartaroo), another word trans- 
lated "hell," is seen in 2 Pet. ii. 4. It is agreed by all 
that geenna and tartaroo (Gehenna and Tartarus) do not 
contain the righteous. We shall therefore limit our critical 
examination to the words sheol and hades. 

408. Sheol, as a Receptacle of Departed Spirits, 
does not Contain the Saints. The Ethiopic Book of 
Enoch, ciii. 7, makes sheol the hell of the wicked. 
A. B. Davidson, professor of Hebrew in Edinburgh, 
gives this definition : " Sheol is the opposite of the 
upper sphere of light and life." 2 In the Vulgate 
sheol is rendered infernus forty-eight times ; by inferos 
(inferi), seventeen times. Sheol points to the infernal 
regions. The ancients regarded the grave as " the 
region of gloom and darkness, so the word denoting it 
soon came to be applied to that more dark and 
gloomy world which was to be the abiding place of 
the miserable." 3 

409. Professor Dalmon, of the University of 
Leipsic, is a master in Old Testament exegesis. He 
writes : 

" When the doctrine of a punishment immediately after 
death began to prevail, the idea that there was a place of 
punishment and a place of bliss superseded the old concep- 
tion of sheol. Since, however, the expressions used by the 
Old Testament in regard to sheol could be applied only to 
the place of punishment, sheol and gehe?ina came to mean 
the same thing." i The wicked only are in gehenna. 

1 See geenna in Matt. v. 22, 29, 30 ; x. 28 ; xviii. 9 ; xxiii. 15, 33 ; 
Mark ix. 43, 45, 47 ; Luke xii. 5 ; Jas. iii. 6. 

2 Hastings' « Bib. Diet.," art. " Sheol," p. 740. 

3 M, IX, 662. * Schaff-Herzog, V, 109. 



DOWN IN HADES 



283 



" In Job xi. 8 ; Psa. cxxxix. 8 ; Amos ix. 2 the word 
sheol denotes the opposite of heaven, which cannot be the 
grave nor the general state or region of the dead, but hell. 
Still more decisive are such passages as Psa. ix. 17; Prov. 
xxiii. 14 j in which sheol cannot mean any place, in this 
world or the next, to which the righteous as well as the 
wicked are sent, but the penal abode of the wicked as dis- 
tinguished from and opposed to the righteous." 1 

410. Double Meaning of the Term. Sheol, as ob- 
served, is rendered "grave " in thirty-one places. 2 In a 
few of the places where it is so rendered it really seems to 
mean the grave. The word, therefore, has two meanings 
assigned it, just as many of our English words have two or 
more distinct meanings. In three places sheol is rendered 
"pit" (Numb. xvi. 30, 33; Job xvii. 16). In Luke 

xiv. 5 we see a " pit " which is a hole in the ground into 
which animals fall, while in Rev. xx. 1, 3 we find a " pit " 
in which Satan, a spirit, dwells. If sheol be carried into 
the New Testament by those who believe they find its 
equivalent in hades, it bears that meaning only which de- 
notes the spiritual abode of the wicked dead. 

411. Analysis of Scripture. Analyzing the Old 
Testament Scriptures in which sheol is rendered "hell," 
we find a place designated in which only the disobedient 
and the wicked are seen. 

Sheol is very, very deep (Job xi. 8) ; contains the "un- 
circumcised" (Ezek. xxxi. 17, 18; xxxii. 21, 27); is a spirit 
pit into which the wicked are cast (Isa. xiv. 15 ; Ezek. 
xxxi. 16) ; an abode of "sorrow " (2 Sam. xxii. 6 ; Psa. 
xviii. 5); a place of " destruction " (Job xxvi. 6; Prov. 

xv. 11; xxvii. 20); very sharply contrasted with heaven 
(Job xi. 8 ; Psa. cxxxix. 8 ; Prov. xv. 24 ; Amos ix. 2). 
Did the righteous who died in ancient times descend into 
a deep spirit pit as tmcircumcised creatures, where they 
experienced sorrow and destruction in a dismal abode en- 
tirely opposite in nature to that of heaven ? Did the spirits 
of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, of Noah, Job and Daniel, 
and all the holy prophets, descend into the depths of 



1 M, IX, 663. 



2 See 407 (in small type). 



284 THE EETUEN SEEN IN SCKIPTUKE 



sheol ? Did they not rather rise to the heaven to which 
Enoch and Elijah ascended (Gen. v. 24 ; 2 Kings ii. n), 
and from which the holy angels descend as revealed to 
Jacob in his dream? (Gen. xxviii. 12). 1 

412. Hades is not the Grave. In Greek litera- 
ture Hades is used to designate the region of departed 
spirits and does not denote the grave. Bishop 
Merrill, who has given the subject thorough study, 
declares that in the New Testament hades never means 
the grave. 2 In the Eevised Version of the New Tes- 
tament it is never rendered grave. Only once in the 
Authorized Version is it so translated and in this 
single exception the marginal substitute is "hell." 

1 Cor. xv. 55, to which we refer, is quoted by Paul 
from the Septuagint (LXX), which reads: 4 'Where is 
thy penalty, O death ! O hades, where is thy sting? " 3 
Here hades cannot mean the grave because dust never 
stings a dead body and also because " the sting of death 
is sin " (verse 56). Sin is not material in its essense, nor 
does it inhere in the corporeal body. 

413. Departed Saints are not in Hades. Hav- 
ing eliminated the grave by finding that hades denotes 
exclusively the abode of departed spirits, we now 
proceed farther and find that departed saints are not 
in hades. 

1 The places not above cited, where sheol is found, are Deut. xxxii. 
22; Psa. ix. 17; xvi. 10; lv. 15; lxxxvi. 13; cxvi. 3; Prov. v. 5 ; 
vii. 27 ; ix. 18 ; xxiii. 14 ; Isa. v. 14; xiv. 9 ; xxviii. 15, 18; lvii. 9; 
Jonah ii. 2 ; Hab. ii. 5. They designate the abode of the disobedient 
and the wicked. In Jonah ii. 2 the margin gives " grave " ; but 
Jonah was not dead, and he had a taste of sheol. 

2 " New Testament Idea of Hell," p. 25. 

3 So reads the « Codex Sinaiticus " ; Beza, 1598 ; and others. The 
other passages where hades appears are Matt. xi. 23 ; xvi. 18 ; Luke 
x. 15 ; xvi. 23 ; Acts ii. 27, 31 ; Rev. i. 18 ; vi. 8 ; xx. 13, 14. 



DOWN IN HADES 



285 



Nearly a thousand years before Christ was born 
(b. c. 950), Homer, the greatest poet of antiquity, 
sang of " Pluto's gloomy reign." 1 

" In mythology Pluto is represented as the grim, stern 
ruler over hell. He is called Hades and Orcus. He has 
a throne of sulphur. ... In one hand he holds his 
fork and in the other the keys of hell, and beside him is 
the dog with three heads. . . . From his realms there 
is no return." 2 

Merrill observes that in Homer's time Hades " was a 
name, and seems to have designated a person or divinity 
whose special dominion was the underworld, which is un- 
seen." 3 Liddell and Scott's Lexicon reads: "Hades, 
the world below." Grimm's Greek Lexicon : " Orcus, the 
nether world." In his " Odyssey" Homer makes Elysium 
a department of the infernal regions; but in the "Iliad " 
we find Achilles, in Elysium, envying the meanest creature 
on earth. Does this depict the place of departed saints ? 
Smith's " Classical Dictionary " (art. " Hades ") informs 
us that " in Roman poetry Hades is the god of the nether 
world, and is called the infernal Jupiter." 

414. The Gates of Hades. Augustine, who in 
scholarship is regarded by some as ranking second 
only to Jerome, finds that hades is never used in a 
good sense; while the noted Jerome in his Latin 
Vulgate makes hades read infernus in every place in 
the New Testament except Matt. xvi. 18 where it is 
rendered "portw inferi" (gates of hell). 4 

If hades has gates, and if it be such an all pervading 
realm as to embrace the entire unseen world, what desig- 
nation shall we give to that part of the unseen world which 
lies beyond or outside the gates ? What can be without 
the gates except the visible world ? But is heaven inside 
the gates ? Is Jehovah's throne in hades ? Hades tries 



1 " Museum of Antiquity," p. 707. 
3 " N. T. Idea of Hell," p. 47. 



2 Ibid., p. 487. 
* M, IV, 166. 



28G THE RETURN SEEN EN SCEIPTUEE 



hard to overthrow the Church, but " shall not prevail 
against it " (Matt. xvi. iSj. 1 

415. Usage of the Term Hades. On Hades 
Bishop Beveridge makes this admission : "It cannot 
be denied but that it often, if not mostly, is used to 
express the receptacle of sinful souls in particular, 
or that which we in English call, hell, the place of 
the damned." 2 Adam Clarke, although not always 
consistent with this statement, writes on Matt. xi. 21, 
saying: " There is a day of final judgment, when 
hades itself, sinners in a state of partial punishment 
in the invisible world, shall be cast into the lake 
of fire and brimstone." Hades "lies deeper than 
thought can reach, and to it no light of sun ever 
penetrates. . . . Man cannot praise God there 
(Isa. xxxviii. 18) and God's reproof does not reach 
it." 3 "In classical Greek writers Hades is used to 
denote Orcus, or the infernal regions. " i "The 
Hades of the Xew Testament appears to be no other 
than the place of future punishments (Matt, xi, 23 ; 
xvi. 18; Luke xvi. 23)." 5 

416. The Scriptures, rather than human opinions, 
we shall now examine. What are the teachings of 
Jesus Christ ? 

(1) The flames of Hades. In hades a rich man suf- 

1 Church comes from Ikk/^nia (ekklesia), \ik (ic) ek — "out 
of," ka/Aa), kaleo — " to call "], an assembly of called-out ones. As 
Israel was called out of Egypt, the glorious Church, pure and un- 
spotted, is called out of the world ; and, though sorely tempted by 
hell, does not commit sin (Eph. v. 27 ; Jas. i. 27 ; I John iii. 4-9). 
The true Church, in the world, is not of it (360). 

2 " Exposition of the Thirty-nine Articles." 

3 Professor Dalmon, Schaff-Herzog, V, 109. 

4 M, IV, 9. * M, IX, 663. 



DOWN IN HADES 287 

fers torment. In hades we see him "lift up his 
eyes," beholding Lazarus "afar off" (Luke xvi. 23) 
in Abraham's bosom — Paradise. But Paradise is not 
a part of hades. 

Sight and communication do not prove close proximity. 
" A great gulf" (verse 26) lay between them, and it was 
impassable. On earth, from the sands of a scorching 
desert one may behold snow capped mountains more than 
a hundred miles away ; and as to space, distance is almost 
annihilated when men widely separated desire to converse. 
Need it be thought strange to find and see similar com- 
munication between departed spirits ? One man is down 
in the flames of hell ; the other, on the lofty heights of 
Paradise. 

(2) Low, degraded depths. Old Capernaum, lying 
low on the shore of sacred Galilee, and exalted unto 
heaven with spiritual privileges, was brought down to 
hades (Matt. xi. 23). Her guilt was greater than that 
of Sodom (verse 24). 

(3) Powers of perdition. The "gates of hell " 
(Hades) shall not prevail against the Church (Matt, 
xvi. 18). (See 414.) 

(4) On the cross Jesus said to the penitent thief, 
" To-day shalt thou be with me in Paradise " (Luke 
xxiii. 43). They were crucified on Friday and their 
spirits went that day to Paradise. Not until Sunday 
was the body of Christ resurrected. 

417. Departed Saints are with Christ in Para- 
dise. But Christ is not in hades. Departed saints 
are not in hades, because they are with Christ. "When 
the Saviour ascended from Olivet He was taken " into 
heaven " (Acts i. 11). He is now in heaven with the 
Father. The saints who are "absent from the 
body" are "present with the Lord" (2 Cor. v. 8). 



288 THE KETTTEX SEEN IN SCEIPTUEE 



Saints who " depart" are "with Christ" (Phil. i. 
23). Adam Clarke says "Abraham's bosom was a 
phrase used among the Jews to signify the 1 Para- 
dise of God ' » (Luke xvi. 22 with Kev. ii. 7). 1 
Christ, adapting His teaching to Jewish understand- 
ing, makes use of the Jewish phrase. 

418. Christ in Hades. The Greek and Roman 
Catholic Churches teach that Christ descended into hades 
(35b). They cite Eph. iv. 8-10, but hades is not found 
here and " the best interpreters apply it to the incarna- 
tion." 2 1 Pet. hi. 18-20 is cited also, but ' ( the weight of 
interpretation, from Augustine downward, seems to be 
against this view." 3 

Does not Psa. xvi. 10 with Acts ii. 25-27 prove 
that Christ was in hades ? Not necessarily. Peter quotes 
David, and the exact literal rendering of Psa. xvi. 10 is, 
" 1 Thou wilt not abandon my soul to hades ' — that is, give 
it up as a prey to the nether world." i Christ, groaning 
on the cross, was accursed for our sakes and for a mo- 
ment the Father seemed to forsake Him (Matt, xxvii. 46), 
but this taste of death was endured before the Redeemer's 
spirit swept away. When He drew the last breath His 
spirit was not abandoned to hades. 

419. Purgatory, (a) Some able theologians believe 
that prior to the resurrection Paradise was a distinctly 
separate province of hades. They believe that when the 
Lord arose to the third heaven He exalted paradise into a 
still higher and entirely independent empire. However, 
they teach that the saints after the resurrection were not in 
hades and will not be found there at the time of final 
judgment. 

(b) But if we entertain the assertion that Christ was in 
hades we see wherein lies much of the strength of the doc- 
trine of Purgatory, Second Probation and Future Restora- 

1 « Com., N. T.," I, 439. 2 M, IV, 170. 

3 Ibid., citing Schweitzer, Aquinas, Scalinger, Beza, Gerhard, 
Hammond, Adam Clarke, Bethune and others. 

4 M, IV, 10. 



DOWN IN HADES 



289 



tion. The doctrine that the spirits of the righteous dead 
are in hades " forms the foundation of the Roman Catholic 
doctrine of Purgatory, for which there would be no ground 
but for this interpretation of the word Hades. ... It 
would be difficult to produce any instance in which they 
(sheol and hades) can be shown to signify the abode of the 
spirits of just men made perfect, either before or after the 
resurrection." 1 

(c) After long and careful research McClintock and 
Strong sum up the whole matter in these words : 
" (i) That there is no third intermediate place of spiritual 
existence; no subterranean habitation of disembodied 
souls, either of probation or of purgation ; no limbus 
patrum, no limbus infantum, no purgatory. (2) That 
the idle and unprofitable question as to the object of 
Christ's descent into hades is precluded ; a question which 
greatly perplexed the Fathers, the schoolmen, and the Re- 
formers, and led to the invention of many absurd and un- 
scriptural theories." 2 

When the wicked die they go to hell, not to purgatory ; 
when the righteous die they go to heaven, not to any part 
of hades. (See 425.) 

We have seen that sheol, as the abode of spirits, was 
not the habitation of the saints. We have seen that 
hades, which is not the grave, does not contain the 
saints. The wicked only are in hades awaiting the 
final judgment. 

1 M, IX, 662. The reader may, however, consult Seiss («« Apoc," 
III, 271-277) for a good exposition of the view which presents 
" Abraham's bosom " as a part of Hades until the resurrection of 
Christ. See also " Scofield Bible " on Luke xvi. 23. 

8 M, IV, 172, presenting resume from Muenscher in " Biblio. 
Sacra," April, 1859. 



SECTION X.— THE POST-MILLENNIAL JUDG- 
MENT SCENE 



XLL— THE RESURRECTION OF THE WICKED AND 
THE FINAL JUDGMENT 
" I saw a great white throne " (Rev. xx. 11). 

420. Satan, released from his prison, obtains a 
brief respite at the end of the thousand years. 
From remote extremities of the earth those whom he 
rises to deceive are gathered for the "Gog and 
Magog ' ' demonstration against the camp of the saints 
(Rev. xx. 7-9). Fire from heaven consumes the as- 
sailants and the Lord preserveth His saints. "The 
devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire 
and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet 
are, and shall be tormented day and night forever 
and ever " (verse 10). 

11. "And I saw a great white throne, and him that 
sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled 
away ; and there was found no place for them. 

12. "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand be- 
fore God ; and the books were opened : and another book 
was opened, which is the book of life : and the dead were 
judged out of those things which were written in the books, 
according to their works. 

13. " And the sea gave up the dead which were in it ; 
and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in 
them ; and they were judged every man according to their 
works. 

14. "And death and hell were cast into the lake of 
fire. This is the second death. 

290 



THE FINAL JUDGMENT 291 



15. "And whosoever was not found written in the 
book of life was cast into the lake of fire ' ' (Rev. xx. 
"-15)- 

Earth's Millennium is closed. The devil has gone 
down the third time to suffer the torment of eternal 
fire (370c). Christ and the saints ascend. Death 
surrenders her dead. The earth is rent ; the heavens 
are aflame j elements are dissolved ; oceans disap- 
pear. The scene we now behold is set in the field 
of space. The great white throne is occupied by 
Deity. We shall approach to examine closely the 
features of the scene. 

421. Rank. "The dead, small and great, stand 
before God." The wicked only are resurrected at 
this time. There is every grade and rank of the 
wicked before the throne. "Small and great" 
signifies gradation in rank, but not " righteous and 
wicked," as some have erroneously inferred. There 
is " least" and " greatest" among the righteous 
(Matt, xviii. 1; xi. 11) and there is "small and 
great " among the wicked. 

Pre-millennial resurrection is eclectic. The living 
saints, with the dead in Christ of all ages, are taken in the 
Tzapooffia (flarousta), the coming of Christ for His saints. 
The converted Jews and others who perish later under 
Antichrist are resurrected as were the saints at Jerusalem 
when the Saviour arose (343). The first class is mentioned 
by John in a general way; the second, by definite de- 
scription (Rev. xx. 4) (52b). 

During the Millennium translations will be more prob- 
able than in the periods when Enoch and Elijah were 
taken. As to those who may die during the Millennium, 
the Christ who raised the dead during the day of His 
humiliation will be able to care for them when He reigns 
on earth in power and glory. 



292 THE KETUKN SEEN IN SCEIPTUBE 



422. The Sea. The " sea" giving up its dead 
shows that the resurrection of the wicked is universal 
and complete. In the first resurrection the sea gave 
up the ashes of the martyrs and all the holy whose 
bodies were ever committed to the deep, such as 
Coke (191) and many others. Now the sea gives up 
a greater number than when the saints arose. It 
gives up the greater part of 1,600 who sank with one 
great vessel on a memorable Sabbath day. 1 

423. Order of Events. The fact that the sea giv- 
ing up its dead (verse 13) is mentioned after the 
earth is declared to have "fled away " (verse 11), is 
no proof that this judgment scene is on the earth. 
The order of chronology cannot always be correctly 
ascertained by the arrangement of verses in the text. 

In verse 12 we see the dead, " small and great," stand- 
ing before God and being judged. But the "sea," with 
"death and hell," giving up the dead, as seen in the 
verse following (verse 13), must be an event which pre- 
cedes in time that mentioned in verse 1 2. In the Proph- 
ets a few similar instances may be cited. Numerous in- 
stances are found in the Gospels. The sacred style of 
narrative is artless, unstudied, and on the whole it ex- 
hibits marvellous harmony ; apparent minor contradictions 
are convincing marks of truth. 

424. Death. The term " death," in the expres- 
sion " death and hell," has two aspects ; one relates 
to the body and the other to the soul. " Death " was 
conquered. 

(a) The body. When the saints arose, " Death is 
swallowed up in victory" (1 Cor. xv. 54). Without ex- 
ception the body of every saint was then surrendered and 
received into glory. In the resurrection of condemnation 

1 As when the " unsinkable " Titanic went down. 



THE PINAL JUDGMENT 293 



earth and sea give up their dead, but instead of being 
swallowed up into glory these bodies are " cast into the 
lake of fire " (verse 14). 

(b) The soul. Here ' 'death" portrays character or 
spiritual condition. "In Adam all die " (1 Cor. xv. 22). 
Adam died spiritually when he ate forbidden fruit ; 
centuries afterwards he died physically when his body 
returned to the dust. The death of the soul is spiritual 
separation from God. 1 Death gives up its dead souls, — 
its wicked people. 

425. Hell. The Greek original is hades. We have 
already examined with care the nature of hades and 
seen that the wicked only are in this dark abode. 
' ' Death and hell delivered up the dead which were 
in them" (verse 13). But the righteous are not 
here. The righteous go direct to heaven j the wicked, 
to hades or hell. (See 106.) 

(a) Death-bed experiences are significant. We have 
seen the wicked die. Ungodly, wicked men fixed their 
glaring eyes upon the floor and their trembling lips spoke 
of a bottomless pit. They said the darkness became in- 
tense ; they called for light and said that lurid flames ap- 
peared ; they writhed in contortions, declaring they were 
sinking into hell. They went to hades. 

(b) " Let me die the death of the righteous, and let 
my last end be like his " (Numb, xxiii. 10). We have 
seen their faces aglow with the glory of God. We have 
seen them lift their eyes with unspeakable joy ; wave their 
hands to the beckoning hosts ; hear the heavenly angels 
sing ; sweep through the gates to be with Jesus, leaving a 
smile imprinted on the face of mortality which for a 
season they left behind. They went to heaven. 

(c) A great gulf lies between heaven and hell and 
there is no passing from one shore to the other (Luke xvi. 
26). 

426. Death and Hell Identical. The "sea" 

1 Wesley, " Sermons," I, 401. 



294 THE KETUKN SEEN IN SCKIPTUKE 



contains now only those who are included in the 
realm of death and hell. As to " death and hell," 
the container and the things contained are found to 
be inseparable. " Death and hell were cast into the 
lake of fire ' ' (verse 14). 

The casting of "death and hell" into the "lake of 
fire" is "the second death" (verse 14). But observe 
also that the entry of "the fearful, and unbelieving, and 
the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and 
sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars " (Rev. xxi. 8), into 
this same " lake which burneth with fire and brimstone," 
is "the second death" (verse 8). "Death and hell" 
are synonymous with the aggregate body of wicked classes 
named. Do we find the righteous here ? They are not in 
hades ! 

427. The Book of Life. The placing on exhibit 
of the "book of life" (verses 12, 15) has been re- 
garded by some as evidence which seems to indicate 
that not all who are resurrected at this time shall be 
condemned, but that their names will be found in this 
book. "Whosoever was not found written in the 
book of life was cast into the lake of fire" (verse 
15). But none of those who rise from "death and 
hades" are in the enjoyment of spiritual life, nor are 
their names in this book. "Death and (hades) hell 
were cast into the lake of fire." The saints of all 
ages are gathered around the great white throne, and 
their names are in the book of life ; but they are not 
included in this resurrection of "shame and ever- 
lasting contempt" (Dan. xii. 2). The wicked have 
never been fair in their estimate of the righteous, and 
they are ready now to bring railing accusation against 
the saints of God. But the book of life lies open. 
The wicked may protest against their eternal con- 



THE FINAL JUDGMENT 295 



demnation, but the book of life is open wide. Their 
names do not appear. The book is produced and to 
both sides the action is fair. It records the title of 
the righteous and proves that the wicked have no 
claim. 

428. The Vast Assembly. We fix our eyes upon 
the vast assemblage gathered before the great white 
throne for the general judgment of the entire universe 
of created intelligences. Unto the day of this judg- 
ment the wicked have been reserved, and at this time 
also all the ransomed hosts appear. Between the 
judgment of the righteous and the wicked some dis- 
tinguishing features are observed. 

429. The Righteous. The righteous dead were 
resurrected before the Millennium and at that time were 
judged in view of their subsequent assignments and judi- 
cial duties. Their sins and iniquities which were pardoned 
and covered by the blood before the time of their resurrec- 
tion God will remember no more (381). " Some men's 
sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment ; and 
some men they follow after " (1 Tim. v. 24). The sins of 
the righteous went before them and the saints were judged 
before their resurrection as to guilt or innocence, and at 
the time of their resurrection in other particulars men- 
tioned (382-386). 

430. The Wicked. Evil angels were "delivered 
into chains of darkness to be reserved unto judgment " 
(2 Pet. ii. 4). The saints shall "judge angels" (1 Cor. 
vi. 3). The Lord will " reserve the unjust unto the day 
of judgment to be punished " (2 Pet. ii. 9). " The heavens 
and the earth, which are now, are kept in store (literally, 
stored with fire) against the day of judgment and perdi- 
tion of ungodly men" (2 Pet. iii. 7). These specific 
reservations distinguish an interval of time which is seen 
between the pre and the /^/-millennial judgment and also 
identify the character of the classes thus separated. 



296 THE KETUKJST SEEN IN SCEIPTUEE 



Wicked men appear in the final judgment, and their sins 
in swift witness follow after. 

431. Meeting and Parting Forever. The right- 
eous and the wicked have long been parted. Isow 
they meet again at the Judgment. The Father, the 
Son, and the Holy Ghost, are present. Myriads of 
angels are here, both the evil and the good. Every 
righteous man, woman and child whose sins were 
covered by the blood when their spirits departed 
from earth, are here before the throne. From Eden 
to Magog every sinner who died without Christ and 
the atonement is standing now before Almighty God. 
We see the trembling backslider who trampled under 
his feet the blood of Christ after tasting the joy of 
salvation ; alas, he is among the contingent from 
Death and Hades, and in anguish of spirit he beholds 
the overcomers who stand with the ransomed of the 
Lord. The saints are adjudged in the presence of the 
wicked as well worthy of all the bliss of the immortal- 
ity that lies beyond. The findings of earlier judg- 
ment are reviewed and shown to be just (381-386). 
The records are produced and the book of life lies 
open before the gaze of an assembled universe. The 
saints are now aligned with Jehovah as arbiters of 
justice in the condemnation of all the workers of in- 
iquity. The redeemed sit with the Divine Tribunal. 
The wicked are judged and their sentence is pro- 
nounced. There is no appeal. The wicked are 
speechless. With heavy sighs they turn away to 
come back no more forever ! 

Oh, what a mighty, mighty host of lost souls ! 
Heaven help us to weep over sinners now. Jesus 
wept over sinners and gave His precious life to save 



THE FINAL JUDGMENT 297 



their souls from the bitter pangs of eternal death. 
" He that winneth souls is wise " (Pro v. xi. 30). He 
that findeth Christ is wise. 1 c Oh, that they were wise, 
that they understood this, that they would consider 
their latter end " (Deut. xxxii. 29). 

We shall tarry a moment longer to witness the joy 
of the glorified throng. Myriads upon myriads en- 
compass now the throne of Deity. On every brow 
there beams resplendent the light of God's eternal 
glory. The vaults of heaven resound and the ends of 
immensity reverberate with swelling anthems of ever- 
lasting praise. Oh, what must it be to be there ! 

Holy Spirit, sanctify these pages and make them 
in some measure a blessing to immortal souls. May 
the faith of the saints whose lips are silent inspire us 
to work for the salvation of sinners and eagerly watch 
for the Lord's return. God be with you till we meet 
again. 

u Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things 
before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error 
of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness. But 
grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and 
Saviour Jesus Christ To Him be glory both now and for 
ever. Amen" (2 Pet. Hi. 17, 18). 



Textual Index 



Scriptures Discussed or Cited. Numbers Refer 
to Paragraphs 



Gen. 11. 2 


r T 
5 1 


Numb. xxii. 22-26, 28, 31 . 325 




402 






ii \\\ IT TA 


400 


" xxiii. 10 




*' v C S I I \A 17 20 




" xxvi. 9, 10 . 


. . . 402 




ft A 
374 


Deut. xxii. 9 . . . 


. . . 43 1 


ii y 24 


A I T 


" xxxii. 22 . . 






3OI 




\. • • 431 


<« 29 


11 A 
374 


Joshua x. 28, 30, 32, 


35> 37» 




366 


39 • ■ ■ 


• • . 334 


« xiii 14— 1 7 




Judg. 11. 1-4 . . . 


• • • 325 


<< xv 18 


266 






" xvi 7. Q— II. 12 


•32C 




• ' ' z li 


a wiii X n V? 

A V ILL. Oj M~ ' 4t 4* .... 


4OO 




... 389 


Will 'JO* 


J°° 


I Sam. xxv. 29 . . 


... 335 


x ! x> • ■ 


402 


2 Sam. viii. 15 . . 


... 322 




400 






" xxi. 17— 19 . . . 


J J 




... 322 




325 


" xix. 4-8 


. . . 400 




325 


2 Kings i. 10-12 


. . . 402 


" xxxvii. 19, 20, 28 . . 


399 


" ii. II . . . 


... 4" 


" xli. 41-44 


399 




... 366 


** xlii. 6, 7 


399 


Job xi. 8 




" Xlv. I, 2 


399 






" xlvi. 15, 18, 22, 26 . . 


335 


" xix. 25-27 . . . 


3, 322, 348 




325 




... 4" 


Ex. ii. 6, 14 


325 


" xxxviii. 4 . . . 


. . . 400c 




402 




... 369 




389 


« ii. 6-8 ... . 


. . 12, 191 


" xix. 1-16 


400 






" xix. 9-1 1, 13, 16, 19 . . 


349 


" xvi. 10 ... . 


. 412, 418 


" xxxiii. 14 


325 






Lev. xvii. 12 


334 


" xxii. 27, 28 


... 12 


" xxiii. 10-12 


343 




... 412 


Numb. xvi. 30, 33 .... 


410 


" lxxii. 8-1 1 . . 


. • 12,322 




396 




. . . 412 



299 



300 



TEXTUAL INDEX 







9 


Isa. lxv. 17 . . . 




• 374 


xciv. 3 . . . . 




382 


" lxv. 18, 25 . . 




366, 374 


cii. 25 .... 




400 


" lxv. 20, 21 . . 




3 22 , 374 






181 


" lxv. 25 . . . 




• • 37i 






412 


" lxvi. 15, 16 




• • 389 


cxxxix. 8 . . . 


, 4C9,4H 


Jer. iii. 14 ... . 




• • 398 






385 








v - 5 




412 


" xxiii. 5, 6 . . 




120, 322 


vi. 30 ... . 




334 






366, 398 






412 


" xxiii. 8 . . . 




■ • 366 


ix. 18 . . . . 




412 


" xxv. 30-33 . . 




■ 389 


xi. 30 . . . . 




431 


" xxx. 4-7. . . 




• • 388 


XV. II . . . . 




411 






• • 3 6 6 






411 


" xxxi. 10-12 




• • 366 


xxiii. 9 . . . 




409 


" xxxiii. 15 . . 




• • 366 


xxiii. 14 . . . 




409 


" xlvi. 27, 28 




. . 366 


xxvii. 20 . . . 




411 


Ezek. xx. 40-44 




• • 366 






396 


" xxviii. 25, 26 




• • 366 


i. 26 


. 3 66 > 39° 


" xxxi. 16-18 




. . 4" 


ii. 2-5 


12, 


366 


" xxxii. 21, 27 




. . 411 


ii- 4 


12, 


322 


" xxxiv. 1 1-3 1 




• ■ 398 


ii. 11 




322 


" xxxiv. 20-31 




366, 398 


v. 14 




412 


" xxxiv. 23, 24 




. • 366 


viii. 20 .... 




322 


" xxxvi. 8-15 




. . 366 


xi. 6-8 . . . . 


. 3 22 > 


37i 


" xxxvii. I- 14 




• • 33 2 






191 


" xxxvii. 21-28 




• • 366 


xi. 11 




363 


" xxxix. 25-29 




• • 3 6 6 






366 


Dan. ii. 31-45 




• • 369 


xiv. 9 




412 


" iii. 21-27 




402 


xiv. 15 .... 




411 


" vii. 13, 14, 22, 




• 375 


xix. 24, 25 . . . 




366 


" vii. 22 . . . 




182 


xxiv. 20, 23 




389 


" vii. 27 . . . 




. . 191 


xxv, 6—12 . . . 




366 






388 






12 


" xii. 2 . . 339, 




342,427 


xxv. 9 . . . . 




3, A 




Preface, p. 9 


xxvi. 20, 21 




389 






366 


xxviii. 15, 18 . 




412 






• • 389 


xxx. 18, 19, 26 




366 


" iii. I, 2, 12 . 




366, 389 


xxxiv. 1, 2 . . . 




389 






■ • 395 


xxxviii. 18 . . . 




415 








xlviii, 13 ... 




400 








xlix. 23 ... . 




12 


" ix. 3 ... 




. • 409 


Ii. 13, 16. . . . 




400 


" 9~ r 5 • ■ 




. . 366 






412 


Obadiah 17, 21 




. 366 


lx 




366 


Tonah ii. 2 . . . . 




. . 412 


lxi. 1-7 .... 




366 


Micah iv. 3 . . . 




12 






389 


« iv. 3-7 . . 




366 
. • 366 






3 2 5 


" vii. 18-20 





TEXTUAL INDEX 



301 



Hab. 


»• 5 • • • 


412 


Matt. 


xiii. 41-49 




• • 393 


<< 


ii. 14 . . 


366 




xiii. 47-50 




• • 373 


Zeph. 


iii. 8 . . 


• . . 3 66 » 389 




xvi. 18 . . . 


414, 


415, 416 




iii. 19, 20 


366 




xvi. 27 . . . 




. • 383 


Zech. ii. 8 


3 2 ° 




xvi. 28 . . 


331. 


354, 394 










xvii. 1-9 




• • 354 




ix. 9, 10 














x. 3-10 . 


398 




xviii. 9 . . 




• 407 n 




xi. 12 


404 










ti 


xii. 3-1 1 . 


405 




xix. 28 . . 


176, 


182, 366, 


<< 


xii. 8-10 . 


. 366, 389, 4O4 








385, 390 


ti 




• • • 404, 405 


<« 


xxii. 14 




. . 360 


<< 


xiv. ; xiv. 2 


.... 405 




xxii. 1-14 




. . 361 


" 


xiv. 3 . . 


389 




xxiii. 15, 33 




• 4°7 n 


«< 


xiv. 4 . .29, 246, 315, 322 




xxiii. 38, 39 




. • 361 


« 












- 00 


«i 


xiv. 10, 11 


315 




xxiv. 12, 37- 


39 ■ 


. . 361 


«< 


xiv. 20 


405 


" t 


xxiv. 21, 22 




. . 388 


Mai, 














<« 


iv. 5 . . . 


332 


u 


xxiv. 27-30 . 




_ c> _ 


Matt. 


1. 21 


• • • 320,381 




xxiv. 27-42 




338, 36l 


u 


iv. 1- 1 1 


326 




xxiv. 29, 30 




. . 388 




iv. 8, 9 . . 


. . . 389, 4OO 




xxiv. 30, 31 




• • 353 


" 


v. 5 . • • 






xxiv. 31, 34 




• • 338 


«« 


v.* 14 


387 




xxiv. 37-42 




338, 361 




V. 22, 29, 30 ... . 407 




xxiv. 41 




• . 51 


<< 








xxiv. 43-5 1 . 




• • 4 


<< 


vi. 10 . : 


4, 29, 135, 400 




XXV. I- 1 2 . 




338, 378 


<< 














<« 


vii. 1 


385 




xxv. 13 




• 4,378 


<« 


vii. 12 


360 




xxv. 14-30 




• • 383 


«< 


vii. 13 . . 


. . 16B, 1911 




xxv. 31 . 388, 390, 393, 394 


«< 


vii. 22, 23 


36i 




xxv. 32 . . 


214, 397, 399 


(i 


viii. 11 


5 1 




xxv. 31-46 . 




176, 366, 


<< 


ix. 29 


156 






389, 391-400 


<< 


x. 28 


.... 40711 








. . 400 




x. 41 . . 


383 




xxv. 40 




• • 399 


<« 


xi. II 


421 


« 


xxv. 41, 46 . 






«< 


xi. 23, 24 


• • • 4l5»4i6 








• • 355 


<« 


xi. 24 


4H 


tt 






. . 404 




xii. 41, 42 


386 




xxvii. 45, 51 




• • 395 


n 


xiii. 13-49 


361 


a 


xxvii. 46 . . 




. . 418 


M 


xiii. 19 . . 


. 368 




xxvii. 52, 53 




• • 343 


II 


xiii. 24-30, 


36-42 . . 372 






• • 324 


tt 


xiii. 24, 33, 


47 • • • 367 




iv. 28 




• • 344 


If 


xiii. 31, 32 


• • 175.368 


a 






• • 334 




xiii. 33 . 


• • • I75> 367 




ix. 43, 45, 47 




. 40711 




xni. 39, 40, 


49 . 366, 401 


tt 


x. 30 . . . 




. . 36* 



302 



TEXTUAL INDEX 



Mark x. 45 334 John viii. 56 348 



II 












II 


xiii. 14-20, 24-26 


. . 300 


11 




«< 


xiii. 33, 36 . 






<« 


xiv. 3 ... Preface, p. 9 












<< 


1. 32. . . . 






" 


xv. 19 . . . 320, 355, 382 


(( 














iv. 16—21 , 










" 








i< 


xvi - 7 353 


<( 






. • 4 


« 


xviii. 36 355 


II 












(( 


x. 18 ... 






11 


Wl OP A A 










(< 


vvinl 0 A 


II 


xii. 5 . . . . 




. 407 n 


Acts 




«( 


xii. 35, 40 . 
xii. 46-48 , 








i. 1 1 . , Preface, p. 9 J 4^7 


<« 








"•5 37* B 


" 

It 


xii. 49. 53 • 






a 


11. 14, 23, 37, 41 . . . 4O4 

ii. 25-27 418 








34 1 » 3 8 3 












• • 355 








xvi. 22 . . . 










«« 


xvi. 23 . . 




4 l 5> 4 J 6 






(I 


xvi. 24 . . . 




• • 332 




irii CS 


<< 


xvi. 26 . . . 




416, 425 


(t 




" 


xvii. 20, 21 






<< 




« 


xix. 1-2-27 . 


• • 


3 0I » 3 5 3 






II 


xx. 35 . . . 








xv. 1 6 . Preface, p. 9 J 3^6 




xxi. 8-1 1, 25- 


-27 


• • 3 61 


<« 


vir o/"! il 


II 


xxi. 24 . . 




3 0I » 397 


«< 


wi C orX 


II 












II 


xxi. 34-36 . 


• • 


• 4» 379 


<t 




II 


xxii. 16 






11 




II 


xxii. 29, 30 




• • 355 


11 




«< 


xxii. 30 




T 80 


11 




II 








11 






xxiii. 43 . . 




. . 4IO 


«i 




II 


xxiv. 25, 44 




• • 3*5 


11 




John 


i. 11 . . 




3 6 4> 399 


Rom. i. 18 358 


<« 


iii. 3,8 . . . 




355» 390 


<< 


ll. 5-IO, 28, 29 . . . 365 


11 


iii. 5, 6 . . 






<i 


9, io 335 


<< 


iv. 21, 23 




• • 347 


i< 


v. 10 377 


<< 


v. 24 ... 




347. 381 


11 




<« 


v. 25 ... 




• • 347 


(i 


vi. ii, 12 361 


« 


v. 28 ... 




• • 347 


<i 


vii. 9-J7 377 


11 


v. 29 ... 


339. 


34i» 347 


11 


viii. 16 381 


i< 


vi. 39, 40, 44, 


47 


. . 348 


i< 


viii. 17-19 361 


11 






. • 3 IQ 


ii 


viii. 22, 23 . . . . 4, 36 1 



TEXTUAL INDEX 303 





378B 




.... 30* 






1A.& 


Phil i 23 


Alt 






IQI 


it \yl, 1 1 


2/tO 




xi. 25-27 


• • • j ul > t 5 uw 


" iii 20 


2 A 








l ». 3 . . . . 


.... 4° 






AOC 


'< iv e 


•j 


It 


xiii. 11-14 


A 


Col. i. 23 


27R Tl 
... 375 B 


It 




111 


" i 27 


1 10 


tt 




■28l 


" ii A 


t 


tt 




ICC 


ti \[\ 1 




<< 


xv. 24, 28 


00 n 


« iii 2— C 


2 A 


«< 




A I 


t Thf><;<; i X o 


402 


«« 














11. ly, X(J 


.... 3 


tt 


1. 7 . . . 


A 


ii iii 12 12 
111. 14, ij 


.... 3 


II 


iii. 13, 15 




" iv. 14 — 17 


.... 377 


(« 






It jy^ 


• • 34 *> 349 


M 


iv. 3-5 • 




It iv 1*7 


780 


M 




108 


it iv 18 


2 


If 


iv. 8 


161 


ft v. 4—6 


A 27Q 


<< 


iv. 12, 13 


782 


2 Thpss i C— 10 


261 266 280 

j ui ) o uu » 




iv. 15 . . 


^8c 

...... ,505 




■201 /102 


<« 


vi. 2 . . 


ITh 182 28c 
• 10 *i S°3 


« i—8 


lift 

.... 370 




vi. 3 




11. 4, j 


• • 3 U1 » S^ jy ' 


li 


xi. 26 


712 


M ii 7 8 
11. /, 0 


1&A 166 276 
j"'}) o/ u 


« 


xv. 5-7 


■2 A A 


<« ji 7— 12 


161 


It 


XV. 20, 22, 


2 3 • • 343» 4 2 4 


<i ill f 




it 


xv. 23 . 


• • • 34 1 * 344 


X 11 m IV ¥ 




it 


xv. 24 . 


■3/1/1 Add A"JA 

• 344* 


«< y # 2^ 


/i 2r» 


it 


xv. 41 


784 


" vi. 14 


•376 


it 


xv. 51, 52 


• J49> 4 1 -** 4^4 


4 x nil. 1. 10 . . . 


... 376 


«« 


xv. 54-57 


• • • 349» 4 1 * 


tt ii 12 




<( 


xv. 55 . . 


/i 1 1 






2 Cor. ii. 16 . . 


7C8 


" iii '~5 




« 


iv. 4 . . 


108 11C\ 

• lu Oi 3 U1 » o/ u 


" iii 4 




<< 


v. 2 




tt iii ¥ T *> 

111. 14, 13 * 


' • 3 01 » 5 oz 


u 


v. 6 








it 


v. 8 




II itr r 


it 


vi. 2 


•3/tR 


" iv 1—8 




Gal, 






« iv 8 




« 


ii. 1 ... 


2/4 /I 


« iv 1 1 


22 


tt 


iv. 19 . . . 


320 


Titus ii. 11-13 


. . . . 3. 4 


a 


vi. 8 


383 


" iii. 5 . . . 


.... 390 


Eph. ii. I, 2 . . 


. . • 3 6l » 37° 


Heb. i. 4 . . . . 


.... 325 


it 


iv. 8-10 


418 




.... 348 


it 


iv. 11 


358 


" iv. 3 . . . 


.... 400 


it 


v. 16 . . . 


36i 


" iv. 7, 8 


.... 348 


tt 


v. 27 . . . 


414 


" iv. 9 . . . 


.... 357 



304 



TEXTUAL INDEX 





. . . . 3»i 


Rev. ii. 7 . . . 




. . . 417 








ii. 8-1 1 . . 












ii. 25 . . . 












ii. 26, 27 




• . • 3S5 








iii. 11 . . 




• • • 3 








iii. 15-18 




.-.At 




/I -38. 




iii. 20 . . 








1 




iii. 21 . . . 




tit o 0 r 

• 3 ll > 3°5 


J A ill Co 1, Z/ , # « 


T /I ^1 /I ¥ yl 




iv. 1, 4 . . 










<< 


v. 10 . . . . 




• 377* 385 


" v. 1-5 . . 






vi. 9- 1 1 




• • • 334 














I Peter i. 6, 7, 11 


. . . . 3 61 




x. 1-7 . . 




• • • 3 2 5 














la IU-IO 






xi. 3-12 












xii. II . . 








• ■ • • 334 




xiii. 4 . . 




. . . 359 


" 111. 10— 20 . 


.,0 

. . . . 4*3 




xiii. 11-17 




. . . 376 
















r 


" 


xiv. 14-20 




. . . 389 






u 


xvi. 3 . . 




• • • 334 






n 






. . • 3,4 












. • • 389 








xix. 11-21 . 




■ 375»389 


" 111. 7 • • • 


• • • 9» 43° 








. . • 376 


<< iii R 






xx. 1-3 . 323, 324, 361, 410 


" 111. IO . . 


• • 379> 4° 2 


" 


xx. I -7 . . . 


9, 


11. 12, 375 


it ill T n T "> 

111. 1U — 1 j . 


• • • 3» 4° 2 


(< 


XX. I-II 




181 


" 111. 12, 14 


.... 4 




xx. 4 . . 11, 


54 


120, 176, 


1 John i. 3 . . . 






182, 191, 193, 223, 246, 


11. IO 


iso, 347, 370 




283, 328-335. 336, 385, 








421 






" ni. 4—9 


.... 414 




xx. 5, 6 . . 




• 13.345 
• 341, 381 






<< 






" iv. 3 . . . 


.... 376 




xx. 7-9 . . . 




• 33^420 


" V IO 


IO8. l6l 


«« 


XX. IO . . . 




• 376,420 


Jude 7 


.... 396 




xx. 1 1-13 . 329, 330, 396, 423 


" 14, 15 • • • 


.... 389 


<« 


xx. 1 1— 1 5 




420, 431 


" 18 


.... 361 


(< 


xxi. 1, 4, 25 . 




• • . 374 






«< 


xxi. 8 . . . 




. . . 426 


" i. 11 . . . . 




«« 


xxii. 20 . Preface, 


P. 9J 134 


" i. 18 . . . . 


.... 325 











See also the Introduction by Bishop Hogue. 



General Index 



NOTE. — Numbers refer to paragraphs. n= foot-note. 



Advent, first, spiritualized, 320 
Adventists-ism, 62, 165, 391 
Age, the holy, 3911; this evil, 
108; "The Last," Wyclif, 
128; Augsburg Confession on, 
145 ; Henry, 269 ; literal fu- 
ture, 310c; character of pres- 
ent, 358-361 
Albigenses, names designating, 

107 ; persecuted, 137, 140 
Allegorizing, Russell's, 29 ; con- 
demned by Tyndale, 132; 
Swedenborg, 169 ; Bunyan, 
246 ; Higher Criticism, 288 ; 
"carnal," 310; warnings 
against, 313; Origen's, 316; 
road to infidelity, 317 
Alliance, Christian, 166, 307 ; 

Evangelical Alliance, 284, 294 
Alogi, 68, 69 
" Amen Churches," 170 
Anabaptists, 138, 158; apostates, 

167 ; Joris, 238 
Ananias and Sapphira, 310 b 
Angel with key to pit, 269, 325 
Angels, Russell on, 29 ; key to 
pit, 325 ; sounding trump, 
349 c ; return with Christ, 389, 
393» 395 J eat material food, 
400 b; reserved in darkness, 430 
Animal restoration, Lactantius 

on, 56 de ; proof of, 371, 374 
Antediluvians, age of, 374 
Antichrist, Papal, 17 a; Russell 
on, 290; personal reign, 51b; 
martyrdom under, 55 ; Augus- 
tine's view, 86 e; Rome as, 



io6d, I23f, 125; prayer for 
fall, 162; Christ destroys, 370; 
a personal being, 376 ; tyranny, 

389, 391 
Apocalyptic Books, 30 n 
Apostasy after Millen., 17 b, 331 b ; 

of this dispensation, 20-28 
Apostles, doctrine of, 31-34, 259 ; 

Apostles' Creed, 34, 35 ; tribute 

to Apostolic Fathers, 37, 38; 

their writings quoted, 39-44 ; 

reckonings of, 45-47 ; Faber, 

48 

Apostolic Brothers, 123 a, 146 n 
Armada, great Spanish, 122 
Armageddon, battle of, 389 
Arms, the world in, 26 
Arnoldists, I46n 
Assignments, in Kingdom, 384 
Augsburg, Confession of, 145 



Baptism, formal, 114, 234 
Baptists, pre, 149b; celebrated 

preachers, 228, 229, 246, 260 
Belshazzar — handwriting, 317 a 
Bible, Vulgate, 78; Wyclif 's, 

128; Tyndale's, 132; Berle- 

burg, 157 c; Scofield, 287 
" Blessing," Rome's, 122 
Blind men — elephant, kingdom, 

35 1 . 

Bohemian Brethren, 146 
Books, destroyed, 103; Rome's 

severity, 120, 265 ; Book of 

Life, 427 
" Brethren," Christ's, 399 
Burmah, Judson in, 307 



305 



306 



GENERAL INDEX 



O 

Calvinism, Augustine introduces, 
85 ; Plymouth Brethren, 16 1 

Camisards, Montanistic, 62 ; his- 
tory of, 140 

Camp-meeting, first in England, 
231 

Caricatures on Chiliasm, 167- 172 
" Carnal " Millen. alleged, 69 ; 

Rome's, 130; discussion on, 

310 

Cathari, Novatians, 63, 64 ; other 
designations, 107 ; history, 
110-112 
Cathedrals, date and cost, 117 
Catholic Apostolic Church, 163 
Child, age of, in Millen., 374 
Chiliasm, definition, 10, 15 ; see 

Doctrine 
China opened, 295, 302, 367 f 
Christian Alliance, 166, 307 
Church, faith of the early, 30 ; 
reformers on progress of, 19; 
recent writers on, 20, 22 ; 
caught up, 51c; united with 
State, 73 ; Augustine's theory 
of, 87, 88 ; Wesley on Church 
and State, 185 ; Moody on 
apathy of, 234 ; agencies ade- 
quate, 360 ; in Revelation, 
377b; robed, 381; term,4i5n 
Church of God, 164 
Cigarettes, consumption of, 359 a 
Clouds, coming in, 29, 51b, 221, 

354, 375» 388, 404 
Clubs, churches like, 22 
Comings of the Lord, I, 310 b, 

320 

Condemnation, no, at judgment, 
38i 

Confessions : Augsburg, 145 ; 
Baptist, 149 b; Church of God, 
164; Adventists, 165; Chris- 
tian Alliance, 166 ; see Doctrine 

Council of Nice, 65, 77 ; of Laod- 
icea, 72 

Creed, Apostles', 34, 35 ; Nicene, 
65, 77 ; old Roman, 34 



Crime, writers on, 20-28 ; aboli- 
tion of, 56 ; extent of, 145, 359 
Crisis, approaching, p. 5 
Criticism, higher, 288, 317 

D 

Daniel, 14; on resurrection, 342 ; 
agrees with John, 375 

David, throne of, 311, 366 

Day, the millennial, 39, 246; a 
judgment, 176, 221 ; the last, 
348 ; " day of the Lord," 402 ; 
" that day," 405 a 

Death, of Boehme, 153; ab- 
horred, 247 ; " and hell," 424, 
426; death-bed scenes, 425 

" Desert, Churches of the," 211 

Devil ; see Satan 

Didache, the, 33 

Differences of Pre and Post advo- 
cates, 16 be, 289, 291 

Dispensation, character of, 179, 
180; another, 348; see Age 

Divorces, increase of, 359 

Doctrine, Apostles', 31-34; Pre 
stated, I5n, 16; extent of Pre, 
early, 36 ; later, 90 ; effect, 1 d, 
3, 5, 64, 189, 191, 293, 308; 
objections, i6bc; see Watch- 
ing 

'* Doctrine of the Millennium, 
The," 15 n, 36, 191, 199, 223 

Doctrine, post-millennial, stated, 
17; objections to, 18, 48; ef- 
fect of, 130, 156b, 234 

Donatists, 62, 88, 89 

Dream, of Millennium, 178, 195, 
316c 

Dress, plain, 60, 130, 140, 157, 

158, 159, 250, 359 
Duty of Christians, 4 

E 

Earth, destruction of, 52, 1 17, 

402 b ; it moves, 12 1 
Eating, by glorified beings, 355 
Economites, 170 b 
Eden, 400 ab 



GENEEAL INDEX 



307 



Education, subject to Rome, 120, 

121, 265 

Elijah, in John Baptist, 17 a, 
332f; returning witness, 53, 
n 1, p. 67 ; transfigured, 181, 
354; ascension, 310a, 345, 41 1 ; 
calls fire from heaven, 402 a; 
visited by an angel, 400 b 

Emblems, Romish, 115 

Enoch, 310, 345, 408, 411; 
see Elijah 

Episcopalians, faith of, 160, 232 ; 
burial ritual, 160 a; Reformed, 
origin and doctrine, 160 b 

Epitaph, Wesley's, 207 ; Gale's, 
256 ; Stuart's, 277 

Evangelization, world's, 358 

Eye, every, seeing Christ, 404 

F 

Fathers, faith of the early, 30- 
34 ; apostolic, 37-45 ; writings 
of, 39-56 ; authorities on, 36, 
226 ; Ante-Nicene, 49-56 

Fifth Monarchy Men, 150 

Fire, Russell on, 29 h ; lake of, 
51b; burns wicked, 55 cd, 
390 a, 396 b; saints unharmed 
by, 402 ; rich man in, 416 ; con- 
sumes the earth, 402 b, 420, 430 

First Resurrection ; see Resurrec- 
tion 

Fowls, lodging, devouring seed, 
368 

Franciscans, 62, 126 

Free Church of Italy, Pre, 106 k 

Free Church of Scotland, origin 

of, 218, 284 
French Prophets, 141 
Friends (Quakers), leaders, 62, 

141 ; history, 158; imprisoned 

with Alleine, 245 

G 

Gabriel and Zacharias, 315 c 
" Generation, this," 338 
Gideon, a judge, 221 ; his vic- 
tory, 389 



Gift to missions, largest, 304 
Gospels, pre-millennial, 31 
Gospel, power of the, 16 c, 360, 
372c; spread of, 292, 367^ 
Post view, 17 b; leaven, 367 
Grapes, Papias on, 44 

H 

Hades, abode of wicked, 407, 
409, 410, 411, 414-416,425; 
not the grave, 412; saints not 
in, 413, 425 ; Paradise not, 417 ; 
Christ in, 418, 419 ; death and, 
426 

"Harmony" community, 170b 
Healing, divine, by Francis, 

126b; Mary Campbell, 163; 

by Christian Alliance people, 

166 

Heathen, number of, relative, 24 

Heaven, reign in, 181 

Hell ; see Hades, Sheol 

Heresies of " Pastor Russell," 29 

Heretics, Protestants so branded 
by Rome, 35, 61, 91, 92, 124, 
126, 137, 138, 143, 153, 156, 
382 

Herrnhut, " Watch of the Lord," 
138, 154, 157, 188, 212, 258 

Holiness, millennial triumph of, 
9, 12, 17a, 55b; necessity of, 
41, 328; exponents of, 60, 61, 
88, in, 126b, 138, 141, 146, 
147, 157, 163, 166, 189.. 212, 
238, 239, 241-243, 250 

Hour of resurrection, 347 

Huguenots, 139- 142 

Humiliati, 125, I46n 

I 

Image, Nebuchadnezzar's, 368 
Imminence of the Lord's return, 
Talmage on, 7 ; Collett, 8 ; 
Duffield, 18 c; Apostles, 31, 
47 ; early chronology, 46 ; 
Cyprian, 54 c; Savonarola, 
130; many others on, 133, 135, 



308 



GENEEAL INDEX 



148, 210, 213, 227, 244; ex- 
pect every hour, 132, 191a, 
206 ; objections considered, 
378b 

' Independents, 149a, 150 ; Meade, 
248 

India opened, 300 
Infidelity, path to, 317 
Inquisition, Roman, 138, 143 
Interest in the Lord's return, p. 
10 

Interpretation ; see Allegorizing 
Irvingites, H2n, 163 

J 

Japan opened, 296 
Jehoshaphat, meaning of term, 
395 

Jerusalem, use of term, 314; 
saints resurrected in, 343 

Jesuits, baneful influence of, 20 c; 
seek rulership of world, 118; 
Lorenzo Dow against, 231 

Jew, error of, on first advent, I ; 
restoration and conversion of, 
17b, 314b, 332b, 421; view- 
ing Zion, 321 ; history of, 363- 
366; in Pre judgment, 397- 
399 

Jewish opinion is Post, 145 
Joel's judgment scene, 395 
John the Baptist, 17 a 
Journalism, moral type of, 27 
Judas questioning Christ, 45 
Judgment, Russell on, 29 r; pre- 
millennial, destroys the wicked, 
51b, 55cd, 560,59, 130, I56ae, 
214, 391-405 ; saints judge, 
56 d, 385, 431 ; Rome's cari- 
cature of saint judgment, 119, 
120; theocratic judgment, 176, 
221, 366g; judgment of the 
saints, 381-386, 429, 431 ; 
reign with Christ, 181 b (see 
Reign) ; final judgment, 420, 
421 

Just and unjust in resurrection, 
346 ; see Resurrection 



K 

Key, Pope holding, 115, 117; 
angel with, 269, 325 

Kingdom to come, 54c, 135, 136, 
400 e; of God, distinctions, 
l 11> *78, 35 I "357 ; inherited, 
52a, 246, 252, 400; sacrifices 
in millennial, 312 

L 

Leaven, Wesley on parable, 175 ; 

its interpretation, 367 
Leonists, 125 

Life, long, in Millennium, 374 

Liquor traffic, growth of, 25 

Lollards, 146 n 

Luke in Rome, 32 

Lying, Romish, 81, 102, 120 

M 

Magnet, Christ a, 380 

Martyrs, early, 32, 39, 40, 42, 
43; under Antichrist, 55 a, 
389 ; of Middle Ages, 107, 126, 
127-130, 382; of Reformation, 
131-144; resurrection of, 182, 
186; others rise also, 333; 
their resurrection spiritualized, 
332 

Materialism ; see Carnal 
Mayflower, the, 252 
Mennonites, 147, 158 
Methodists, early, 173-208 
Migration (lllus.), 346 
Millennarian, 15 n 
Millennium : 

After Christ returns, not until, 
19-28 

Augustine's substitute for, 86; 
his later Romish, 88, 89 

Belief in, extent of, 14, 251 

Character of, 9, 12, 55, 5 6 ad, 
197, 283, 322, 374, 400 

Disagreement, Post, concern- 
ing, 15-18; see Doctrine 

Dispensation, a special, 197, 
400 d 



GENEEAL IKDEX 



309 



Duration of, 13, 348 
Fruitfulness, earth's, during, 

43, 44, 5 6e > 400 b 
Near, believed to be, 8 
Parliament of the world, 134, 

135 y see P a § e 5 
Pre and Post doctrines, 15-18 

Rome's imperious, 113- 116, 
1 18-120 
Millerites, 171 

Miracles, importance of, 313; 

questioned by a preacher, 317 c 
Missions, Pre's are leaders in, 63, 

95, 109, I26ab, 141, 146, 157 c, 

161, 166, 189, 191, 212, 218, 

292-308 

Mohammedans, conversion of, 
17a 2; sensual paradise, 310a ; 
alarming growth of, 24, 359 b 

Montanists, 51, 58-62, 64, 69, 
io6f 

Moravians, 138, 146, 1 88, 212 

Moses, Origen's allegorizing of, 
316 b ; at bush, 325 ; at Sinai, 
349 e; transfigured, 354 

Mountains, chains of (///us.), 
35° 

Mustard seed, Wesley on par- 
able, 175 ; interpretation of, 
368 

Mystics, tortured, 89 b ; faith of, 
62, 152; Poiret quoted, 156 

Myths, miracles regarded as, 
313 

N 

Nations, judgment of the, 390, 

395-397 
Nestorians in Asia, 367 f 
Net, parable of the, 373 
New Hebrides, Paton in, 305 
New Jerusalem, 291 g 
Nineveh, men of, in judgment, 

386 

Noble Lesson, Waldenses', 105, 
106 

Notes, Wesley's, 175-182 
Novatians, 62, 63 



O 

Objections; see Doctrine 
Olivet discourse, 392 
Oneida community, 170 c 
Order of Resurrection, 334 
Origin, recent, of Post, 50 ; early 
Waldensian, 96-105 

P 

Paradise, 416, 417 

Patarini, 107 

Paulicians, 107-109 

Peace, world, 12, 134; see Arms 

Persecution, 58-61, 63, 64, 73, 81, 

89, 9i, 95, I26 > J 42, 154, 241, 

245, 323a, 382; see Martyrs 
Personal coming of Christ, 376 d 
Petrobrusians, 146 n 
Philadelphians, society of, 154 ; 

caricature of, 168 
Phraseology, on resurrection, 340, 

341 

Pietists, 157 ; immigrants, 170 
Pilgrim Fathers, 149, 251 
Pilgrims, people so called, 87, 
109, 126 

Plain houses of worship, III, 
126 

Plymouth Brethren, 161 

Poles; stars (///us.), 350 

Poor-men, 123, 125 

Post and Pre Doctrine, 1 6 a, 
17 ab ; see Doctrine 

Prayer, for Christ's return, 2, 4, 
134-136, 247 ; for His king- 
dom, 54 ; the practice of, 60, 
140, 141, 150c, 154, 158, 159, 
163, 241-243, 295, 301, 302, 
360; urged, in, 153, 157 ; to 
departed saints, 119; for heal- 
ing, 126 b, 163 b, 166; creeds 
and liturgies, 149, 151, 160, 
162, 164 

Preach the Lord's coming, I c, 
237, 240, 251 

Presbyterians, 149, 162 

Probation, second, 29 p; no sec- 
ond or future, 348 c 



310 



GEXEEAL IKDEX 



Prophecy, give heed to, I, 8, 315, 

3 l 9> 3 2l > 404» 405 
Prophetic conference, 308 
Protestant Church after the Refor- 
mation, 89 
Punishment, future, 406-419 
Purgatory, 418, 419 
Puritans, 62, 63, 149 



Quakers ; see Friends ; " Shak- 
ing Quakers," 159 
Quick and dead, judgment of, 403 

R 

Regeneration, cosmic, 390 
Reign of the saints on earth, jus- 
tice of the, 5 id, 185; prom- 
ised, 52a; not martyrs only, 
54b, 333; authorities so assert, 
56de, 156, 186, 221, 223, 256, 
274 ; Scripture declares, 375, 
377> 3 8 5» 390; Augustine's, on 
earth, 86 ; Romish, in heaven, 
119; by popes on earth, 115, 
116, 118, 120 
Restoration, 5 id, 56c, 197; by 
Christ, 370, 371 (see Animal); 
judgment preceding, 388-391; 
see Jeiv 
Resurrection : 

Russell, on body of Christ, 
29 d ; on wicked dead, for a 
second probation, 29 p 
First, pre-millennial and cor- 
poreal, 1 6 a, 51c, 52c, 54b, 
145 b, 164, 182, 186, 193, 
223, 283, 328-350; Jeru- 
salem saints, 343 
Second, 329-331, 420-422 
Simultaneous, Scriptures be- 
lieved by some as proving, 
346, 35° 
Spiritualizing, 96, 332, 345 
Revelation, date of the, 9, 30, 
323 ; divine confirmation of 
faith, 67 ; bitterly assailed, 67- 
72 



Rome — Roman Catholic Church : 
Chiliasm overthrown by Rome 
in corrupting the Apostles' 
and the Nicene Creeds, 35, 
77 ; dispersing spiritual peo- 
ple, 61, 63; suppressing lit- 
erature, 80, 265 ; employing 
force, 91 ; hissing, 92 
Post-millennialism invented by 
Jerome and Augustine, 78- 
81, 88-90; after policy of 
Constantine, 75, 76; uni- 
versal jurisdiction, 113-116, 
1 18-120, 122; purgatory, 
418, 419 
Education, public, assailed and 
anathematized, 80, 120, 121, 
265 

Wickedness, by lying, and by 
persecuting "heretics," 81, 
89 ; by awful immorality, 
93> 94 j provokes protest, 
125-130, 142b, 144; see 
Martyrs, Persecution 

Vast wealth unrighteously 
amassed, 117 

S 

Sabbath, millennial, 39 n, 5ibd, 

246, 283 ; see Millennium 
Saints caught away, 33,51c, 135, 
33 8 » 379» 3§7» 421 (see Resur- 
rection, First) ; returning, 135, 
389 (see Reign) ; praying to, 
Romish, 119 
Sandal-wearers, 125 
Sardica, Synod of, 77 
Satan, binding of, 9, 12, 56, 86, 
324-327, 378 a; falling of, 
370 c, 376 c, 420; hates Chil- 
iasm, 156 b 
Saul's conversion (Paul), 389 
Scriptures on the Lord's return, 

1, 2, 234 
Sea, the, giving up dead, 422 
" Sheep " and " goats," 398, 399 
Sheol, 408-410; see Hades 
Shouting, 29 i, 140, 141, 159 



GENERAL INDEX 



311 



Signs of the times, pp. 5, 6 

Socialism, 14 

Sodom, 396, 400 b, 402 a 

Souls, designating persons, 1 82, 

334 ; " souls of them," 335 
Stars in conjunction, 350 
St. Bartholomew's Day, 142, 144 
St. Helena, Gospel in, 306 
Stone, Daniel's, 369 
Stone-mason, God not a, 317 a 
Supper, the^Lord's, 310 e, 3i2ac, 

355 c 

Swiss Republics, 123 c 
T 

Talmud, on Millennium, 14 
Tares, parable of, 372 
" Temple, German," 170a 
Thousand years ; see Time 
Time : 

Thousand years, the, 9, 17 ab, 
36ac, 51, 52, 55, 156c, 186, 
208, 223, 246 ^see Millen. 
A. D. 1000 ; 117 
Six thousand years, 8, 29 f, 45, 

80, 117, 246 
Seventh thousand years, 39, 
51b, 56a, 357 ; see Sabbath 
Chronology indeterminate, 46 
Tongues, gift of, 1 12 
Trains, eighteen, imminent, 378b 
Transfiguration, the, 331b, 354 
Translation, 345 ; see Elijah 
Tribulation, the great, 41, 51c, 

56, 388, 389 
Trump, the last, 349 
Turks, 123, 209 

V 

Vaudois; see Waldenses 
Vaccination, introduction of, 254 



Vindication of the saints, 382 
Vulgate, the Latin, 78, 408 

W 

Waldenses, antiquity of, 95-101, 
105 ; veracity of, 102 ; Rome's 
opposition to, 96, 103 ; faith 
of, 106 

War material, 26, 359 c 

Watching for the Lord's return, 
commanded, 4, 132, 237 ; pre- 
cludes intervening Millennium, 
i8g, 269 d; prayer for, 134, 
151, 247 ; expecting any time, 
40, 42, 59, 206, 227, 240, 244 ; 
argument on consistency of, 
378 

Wealth, unequal possession of, 6 

Weeping over Zion, city of, 32 1 

Whitby's hypothesis, 17 a 

White Brethren, 123 b 

White slave traffic, 359a 

Wickedness, of Dark Ages, 93, 
94; prevails to the end, 19- 
28, 179, 184, 185, 358-361 

Witchcraft, 254 

World, end of the, 46, 117, 401 ; 

course of, 23-28, 269; see 

Wickedness 
Worldliness opposed, 60, 63, 109, 

in, 124-126, 130, 138 b, 157 b, 

158, 159, 221, 234, 241, 250 

Y 

Years ; chronology ; see Time 
Z 

Zacharias, rebuked for unbelief, 
315 

Zechariah, prophecy of, 313 d, 
404. 405 



Printed in the United States of America , 



) 



SERMONS, ADDRESSES, ETC. 



G. A. JOHNSTON ROSS. 

The God We Trugft 

The Cole Lectures for 1913. Cloth, net $1.25. 
These studies in the Devotional use of the Apostles' 
Creed were delivered as lectures at Vanderbilt University 
by the Professor of Homiletics in Union Theological Semi- 
nary. 

JOHN A. HUTTON, M.A. 

At Close Quarters 

Addresses. i2mo, net $1.25. 

Dr. Hutton is so 1 well known now on this side of the 
water through his lectures at the Northfield Summer Con- 
ference that this new book of his will be sure of a warm 
welcome. 

HUGH BLACK, M. A. 

"According to My Gospel" 

Montclair Sermons. i2mo, cloth, net $1.25. 

The reader will find here messages that will cheer, uplift 
and stimulate when heart weary and those who seek a broader 
spiritual vision will find herein a sure guide to the mountain 
tops of the higher life. 

MARTYN SUMMERBELL 

Religion in College Life 

i2mo, cloth, net $1.00. 

Dr. Summerbell makes a very direct appeal to the mind 
and heart of the young student through argument, phrase- 
ology, illustration, and method drawn from logic, philosophy, 
science and history. 

J. STUART HOLDEN, M.A. 

The Life of Fuller Purpose 

i2mo, cloth, net 75c. 

This accomplished English preacher is well known to the 
Christian world in America through his repeated ministra- 
tions at the Northfield Summer Conference as well as through 
a number of previous volumes which have enjoyed a wide 
circulation. The present series of addresses were given at 
the Young Woman's Northfield Conference. 

JAMES BURNS, M.A. 

Laws of Life and Destiny 

Sermons to Men. i2mo, cloth, net $1.00. 

Here is a book that will appeal to every man or woman 
who thinks. The author divides his subject into eight great 
principles or laws; The Law of Detection which embraces 
Crime and Sin; The Law of Aspiration; The Law of Com- 

?ensation; The Law of Sanitation; The Law of Attraction: 
Tie Law of Election; The Law of Imitation; The Law of 
Nutrition. The work is brightly written, abounding through- 
out with numerous references to science and history. 



STUDIES IN CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE 



JAMES A. ANDERSON 

Religious Unrest and Its Remedy 

l2mo, cloth, net 75c. 

"In this remarkable book — for such it is — the author gives 
all critics full credit for honest deductions and honest 
doubters will admit the fairness of his treatment of diffi- 
culties found in Biblical interpretation. The writer has con- 
densed volumes into his comparison of Christianity with other 
religions. Must be satisfactory to any honest inquirer after 
the truth of Christianity." — Pittsburgh Christian Advocate. 

REV. W. K. FLEMING, M.A., B.D. Library oj 

Mysticism in Christianity "rTeZgl 

8vo, cloth, net $1.50. 

"Successive schools of thought and the teachings of indi- 
vidual mystics, together with the most recent light thrown 
upon the subject by writers of recognized authority, are 
combined in a scholarly yet simple narration of the deeper 
spiritual life." — Christian Advocate. 

T. T. MARTIN 

Redemption and the New Birth 

i2mo, cloth, net $1.00. 

"A rare contribution. The author occupies a peculiar 
place in the evangelistic world. There is none other like 
him. No other man is bringing such messages to this age. 
That this is true, his book will give ample evidence. It de- 
serves wide reading and will most certainly be read with 
profit and delight both by the preachers and laymen." — 
Baptist and Reflector. 

PATTERSON DUBOIS 

The Practice of Salvation 

Trailing a Word to a World Ideal. i2mo, net $1.00. 

Mr. Du Bois, who is so well known to Bible teachers and 
students as the author of "The Point of Contact in Teach- 
ing," and "The Natural Way in Moral Training," in this, 
his latest volume, interprets salvation in the terms of the 
new psychology. The very unconventional and untraditional 
character of the work will commend it to Christian workers 
who will find rare spiritual stimulus and inspiration in its 
pages. 

ELWIN L. HOUSE, P.P. 

The Psychology of Orthodoxy 

8vo, cloth, net $1.50. 

The author points out clearly and helpfully the relation 
between or the comparative value of what may be called the 
Psychological Cults and the Orthodox Christian position. 
Some of the themes interpreted are "The Principles of Men- 
tal Healing," "The Principles of Spiritual Healing," "The 
Available God," "The God of Possession," "The Conscious 
Mind," "The Sub-Conscious Mind," "The Power of Sugges- 
tion," "The Psychology of Prayer," "The Builders of Health." 
"Spiritual Healing," "The Relation of the Church to New 
Thought and Christian Science." 



MESSAGES ON GREAT THEMES 



FREDERICK LYNCH, P. P. 

The New Opportunities of the Ministry 

With Introduction by Hugh Black, M.A., D.D. 
i2mo, cloth, net 75c. 

The ringing, positive message which this book bears is 
most opportune. It is written by a man who fully appreciates 
the significance of the pastoral vocation and has the genius 
to put his conception into trenchant, stirring phrases. That 
the highest opportunities in life are to-day open to the pastor 
are conclusively and triumphantly shown. 
NEWELL D WIGHT HILLIS, D.D. 

All the Year Round 

An Outlook upon its Great Days. i2tno, cloth, 
net $1.20. ( 

Dr. Hillis* characteristics as a preacher are so well 
known that it is hardly necessary to point out that this 
volume _ of "Sermons for Occasions" is distinguished by 
originality of thought, felicitous illustrations and distinction 
of style. Here the reader will find material for each great 
festival day of the church, and each national holiday, that 
will give deeper meaning to the "days we celebrate." 

RUSSELL H. CONWELL, D.D . 

How to Live the Christ Life 

i2mo, cloth, net $1.00. 

Doctor Conwell is a master of the art of presenting and 
enforcing truth with dramatic, unusual, gripping .narratives. 
This selection of some of his best sermons well illustrates 
his genius. These discourses should serve the double purpose 
of stimulating Christian readers to renewed endeavor to 
reach a higher level of living and to winning those who have 
not begun to live the Christ life. 

W. L. W ATKINSON, P.P., LL.P. 

Life's Unexpected Issues 

and Other Papers on Character and Conduct. 
i2mo, cloth, net $1.00. 

"A book of seventeen addresses on character and conduct, 
all of which are fresh and fine in thought, style, and spirit. 
To those who have heard or read after Doctor Watkinson, 
no word of commendation need be spoken of these splendid 
papers, the first of which_ gives title to the volume. The 
table of contents is most inviting, and each topic is taught 
and interpreted in a simple, helpful way." — Religious Tele- 
scope. 

REV. WILFRQP S. HACKETT 

The Land of Your Sojournings 

i2rrio, cloth, net $1.00. 
"To pastors and laymen who find themselves, submerged 
in the dispiritualizing atmosphere of our daily life, this true 
spiritual philosopher speaks with wise, mellow, tender counsel. 
His style is luminous, expository and fraught with a wealth 
of illustrations." — Twentieth Century Pastor. 



Latest Books on Prophecy 

^Ecce Venit 

Or, Behold, He Cometh. By A. J. Gordon. 

12mo, cloth, gilt top $1.25 

"The coming of Christ viewed from a threefold Standpoint 
as Foretold, Forfeited and Fulfilled ; vivid, interesting." — 
Christian Intelligencer. 

The Harmony of the Prophetic Word 

By A. C. Gaebelein. 12mo, cloth net $1.00 

"A work of wide research. A more exhaustive treatise on 
this subject it would be difficult to find." — Westminster. 

The Second Coming of Christ 

By Len G. Broughton, D. D. 16mo, cloth 

net 50c 

"A series of studies on the Kingdom Advent of Christ, Work 
of the Holy Spirit, etc., full of rich truth. 1 ' — Religious Telescope. 

History Unveiling Prophecy 

Or, Time as an Interpreter. By H. Grattan 
Guinness, D.D. 8vo, cloth net $2.00 

"Those who want to read the best that can be said on the 
question . . . had better buy the book.*' — Watchword and 
Truth. 

Earth's Earliest Ages 

And their Connection with Modern Spiritualism 
and Theosophy. By G. H. Pember, M. A. 

Cloth $1.50 

"The author has given much attention to prophetic and 
latter day thought, and gives us facts that will awaken atten- 
tion and inquiry. "—The Occident. 

Maranatha 

Or, The Lord Cometh. By James H. Brookes, 



D.D. 16mo, cloth $1.25 

"Even So Come" 

By John MacNeil, B.A. With Chart. 12mo, 
cloth 50c 



A brief, straightforward, moderate, Scriptural study of the 
Coming of Christ, by the late John MacNeil. 



Latest Books on Prophecy 



Jesus Is Coming 

By Wm. E. Blackstone. l6oth thousand. 

256 pages. Paper, net 25c; cloth, net .50 

A New Edition carefully revised and with all proof texts given 
in full in foot notes. This very naturally makes a larger volume, 
but has been long called for. 

The Earlier Edition may still be had as follows : 
16mo, paper, 15c; cloth, »*/25c; by mail, net .30 

"Without endorsing every detail, we are pleased to give a 
hearty commendation to his work, which will prove of real 
service to such as are beginning the study of prophecy." — 
London Christian. 

The Millennium 

By Wm. E. Blackstone. Paper 10 

A careful statement of the doctrine of the Millennium, as 
grounded in the Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation. 

Satan : His Kingdom and Its Overthrow 

By W. E. Blackstone. Paper cover .10 

God's Methods with Man 

In Time — Past, Present, and Future. By G. 
Campbell Morgan, D.D. With colored chart. 

2d edition. 12mo, cloth 1.00 

The Parables of the Kingdom 

Expositions of Matt. XIII. By G. Campbell 
Morgan, D.D. 2d edition, 12mo, cloth, net 1.00 

Lectures on the Book of Revelation 

By W. Lincoln. 12mo, paper, 50c; cloth, 1.00 
The Second Coming of Christ 

By Dwight L. Moody. 16mo, paper 10 

The Coming of the Lord 

By Arthur T. Pierson, D.D. 12mo, paper. . .25 



Papers on the Lord's Coming 

By C. H. Mcintosh. 16mo, paper 15 

What Is Maranatha? 

By G. W. Gillings. 16mo, paper , .15 



Latest Books on Prophecy 



The Coming Presence 

The Second Advent of Jesus Christ in the Light of 
Scriptures and the World Order. By Frank M. 
Thomas. Cloth, net 1.50 

"From the first to the last there is a plain and 
unmistakable evidence of the Christian scholar deal- 
ing with the eternal verities of Christianity, for the 
Master has truly stamped upon the work His divine 
approval and has breathed into it His Spirit that it 
may bring conviction to the heart of the reader." 

— Louisville Times, 

The Lord's Return 

Seen in History and in Scripture as Pre-Millennial 
and Imminent. By Jesse Forest Silver. With an 
Introduction by Bishop Wilson T. Hogue, Ph.D. 
8vo, cloth, net 1.00 

Bishop Hogue says: "An encyclopedia of valuable 
information condensed into a convenient hand-book 
for ready reference." 

Quiet Talks About Our Lord's Return 



By S. D. Gordon. i2mo, cloth, net .75 

"By all odds the greatest and best of all the 'Quiet 
Talks.' " — Watchword and Truth. 

Sunrise : Behold He Cometh 

By G. Campbell Morgan. Cloth, net .50 



"Dr. Morgan discusses in his reasonable, satisfying 
and preeminently spiritual way." — Northwestern 
Christian Advocate. 

God's Apostle and High Priest 

By Philip Mauro. 

i2mo, cloth, net 50c; paper, .net .30 

"It is an inspiration to read after such a man of 
faith." — Baltimore Christian Advocate. 




,0 o. 




,0° 



3 \ .\ s 



' T* s s \0 , , „ <r y o ^ x Ili* 

Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
r Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
' Treatment Date: August 2005 

PreservationTechnologies 

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 

1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township. PA 16066 
(724) 779-2111 



